Hatla massacre

The Hatla massacre was the killing of 60 Shia villagers, including some who were armed, conducted by Syrian rebels in the eastern Syrian village of Hatla, near Deir ez-Zor, on 11 June 2013 during the Syrian civil war. At least 30 of the dead were civilians. According to a UN report, 30 people were killed.

A video posted online on 11 June, entitled "The storming and cleansing of Hatla", showed fighters waving the black Salafi flag and celebrating. The language used in the videos is sectarian. "This is the Shia, this is the Shia carcass, this is their end," the cameraman says. That video "indicates those responsible were non-Syrians, possibly from Kuwait." According to a Facebook page of Islamist activists from the area, members of the Free Syrian Army and the Islamic extremist Al-Nusra Front rebel groups were involved.

The attack and capture of the village by the rebels was reportedly in retaliation for an attack by Shia pro-government fighters from the village, a day earlier. The Shia militiamen had attacked a rebel position near the village, killing four rebels.

According to opposition activists, most of the dead were pro-government fighters but civilians were killed as well, including women and children. Three Shia clerics were also among the dead. The state news agency, SANA, said that 30 civilians were killed. Rebels also burned civilian houses and a Shia mosque during the takeover. 10 rebel fighters were killed during the attack. 150 Shia residents fled to the nearby government-held village of Jafra.

The incident may be seen as underlining 'the deepening sectarian nature of the struggle in Syria'. The Kuwaiti sheik, Shafi al-Ajmi, threatened more killings against government supporters with attacks on the Shia villages of Nubl and al-Zahraa, near Aleppo.