A video on YouTube shows 4 purported militiamen in Aleppo city being led into a crowded yard before a prolonged barrage of gunfire is unleashed as people chant ‘ Allah Akbar ‘. As the smoke clears, a crumpled pile of bodies can be seen by a wall.

Footage showing the apparent execution of 4 men loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and piles of bodies of government militiamen in a police station suggest that rebels are using the same tactics for which the Syrian leader’s own forces have been condemned in the battleground city of Aleppo.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the nation’s fate is being decided by the fight against the rebels. The head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, condemned the killings by the rebels as criminal.

But Russia, one of Syria’s closest allies, said the video showed there were human rights violations on both sides.

Rebels execute regime royalists in Aleppo / Aleppo conflict sees escalation Video

Syria’s government has used artillery weapons and aircraft against targets in Aleppo as revenge killings by opposition forces underlined the brutality of the spreading conflict and the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, praised his army for facing what he called criminal terrorist gangs.

Helicopters were seen operating above the northern city as Free Syrian Army fighters claimed to have captured several of its key neighbourhoods. State security sources in Damascus has told the AFP news agency : ‘ The army and the terrorist groups have both sent reinforcements for a decisive battle that should last several weeks. ‘

Fighting in Aleppo also erupted between rebels and government forces near 2 Christian areas of the capital for the first time since the uprising began about 17 months ago. It has since claimed an estimated 20 thousand lives.

Syrian rebels executed pro-Assad militiamen in Aleppo / Video

Activists also claim the government uses militias called ‘ shabiha ‘ to crack down on opponents. This enables the regime to deny any wrongdoing and point to armed ganga as responsible for the violence. The opposition claims shabiha were behind the Houla massacre, in which dozens of women and children have been killed.

The shabbiha, have been at the forefront of the crackdown revolt against the ruling Bashar al-Assad family, who are members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.

With secret police support the militia, originally all Alawites, expanded after the uprising erupted in summer last year to encompass Sunni recruits drawn mainly from the northern city of Aleppo and the eastern province of Deir al-Zor.

Some another video showed rebels gloating triumphantly on Tuesday after taking over a police station in the town of Nayrab southeast of Aleppo.

Shooting execution in Aleppo Video :

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