Syria ousts rebels from site of alleged killings

Syrian state media said government troops have regained full control of a village in the central province of Hama after ousting rebels accused of killing dozens of people there, mostly members of the minority Alawi sect.

State news agency SANA said government troops took control of the village of Maan on Monday after destroying the last “hideouts of terrorists, who came into the village and committed a massacre.”

Opposition activists have also reported sectarian killings in Maan. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 40 people were killed when hard-line Islamic fighters overran the village February 9.