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Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi denied false Western reports, saying :
"Government forces did not use planes or helicopters or tanks or artillery. The heaviest weapon(s) used w(ere) RPGs (rocket propelled grenades)."
Security forces killed 37 insurgents and two civilians, he said. Clashes lasted about 90 minutes, not seven hours. Before government troops arrived, terrorists slaughtered over 50 civilians.
On July 14, the New York Times headlined "Details of a Battle Challenge Reports of a Syrian Massacre."
The Times acknowledged previous misreporting. At the same time, it tried explaining events both ways, saying:
"Although what actually happened in Tremseh remains murky, the evidence available suggested that events on Thursday more closely followed the Syrian government account.""But Syrian officials colored (it) with their usual terminology of blaming 'foreign terrorist gangs' for all violence. The government said the Syrian Army had inflicted 'heavy losses' on the 'terrorists.' "
"The official report also made the unlikely claim that government forces had killed no civilians, but that the dead civilians found in the town had been killed by the rebel fighters."
Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said government forces killed two civilians. Dozens were massacred before they arrived. Nothing in The Times report explains this. While partly admitting erroneous reporting, it still points fingers the wrong way.
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