2012 Aqrab bombings
| Aqrab massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Syrian Civil War | |
 Location of Aqrab within Syria.
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| Location | Aqrab, Hama Governorate, Syria |
| Date | 11 December 2012 |
| Target | Alawite population |
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Attack type
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Massacre |
| Weapons | Contested: Bombs/explosives or other/unknown |
| Deaths | Unclear: 125–300 killed or wounded reported |
| Perpetrators |
 Free Syrian Army and allies |
Aqrab massacre is a contested event of 10/11 December, 2012, during the Syrian Civil War, in the Alawite sector of the mixed town of Aqrab, Hama Governorate, Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that 125 people were killed or wounded in those events, while other activists put the death toll up to 300. Activists said that they could confirm the deaths of 10 people.
In 2011 an uprising began in Syria against the government. A multitude of events include military sieges and the formation of the Free Syrian Army, the events turned into the Syrian Civil War. As the ethnic and religious composition was mixed both sides had support from various factions. The ruling party has numerous political leaders belonging to the Alawite minority in Syria, but neither side of the conflict had labeled sectarianism as a major cause of the conflict.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that multiple attacks killed or wounded 125 civilians, mostly Alawites, in Aqrab.
SOHR blamed pro-Assad forces for committing the massacre, based on testimony by Alawites held by the FSA. However, Alex Thomson, the first western journalist to reach Aqrab, reported that eyewitnesses not held by FSA blamed foreign Islamists and FSA fighters from Houla and Al-Rastan.
An Alawite resident, from the nearby town of Masyaf, blamed the attack on rebels stating that they did not believe there was a massacre, but that they thought the rebels were holding a number of hostages. According to him, the clashes started when the rebels shelled a Shabiha militia checkpoint in the town. In contrast, a rebel claimed that the Syrian army shelled a house where between 200 and 500 Alawites were hiding in.
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