The corpses lay strewn in the restive Syrian city of Douma , all slain in what residents there call a government-backed `` massacre . '' The scene in the aftermath of the assault , punctuated by images of grief-stricken people and blood-covered pavement , was recorded last month by opposition activists who braved the wrath of Syrian security and slipped into the suburban Damascus city to bear witness to the tumult with their cameras . The three-man media team moved about the pockmarked urban battleground in shadows and whispers . Edging step-by-step and block-by-block , they hugged buildings ' walls to avoid catching the eyes of rooftop snipers . But they would pick up the pace amid bursts of gunfire . That was at the end of June . The intense bombardment of Douma by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad 's forces in the days that followed trapped the activists for more than a week , with government forces blocking the routes out of town and shelling forcing them to take shelter . Bracing for a Syria showdown . The footage -- just delivered to reporters in Lebanon -- also highlights the resolve of a guerrilla force of activist-journalists : brave souls who 've risked their lives since March 2011 to record examples of the regime 's actions . The carnage is the latest example of what activists say is relentless abuse against civilians by al-Assad 's security apparatus over the past 16 months . Douma , a major city in the province of Rif Damashq -- meaning Damascus countryside , which includes the suburbs that surround the capital city -- has been consumed by bloodshed since the protests last year morphed into a nationwide uprising against the regime . These latest sights , recorded by the activists at a dingy building in the dark of night , bear witness to the grim conflict in cities , towns and villages across Syria . The people seen dead in the scene were among 45 people killed in an attack . Residents say Syrian security forces raiding a building in search of weapons wiped out members of several families . One image shows a little girl sprawled among the dead , many of the bodies covered in bloody funeral sheets . A man points to a body and says `` he was executed , a civilian . '' He points to a second corpse and says , `` This is his cousin , shot because he tried to save him . '' Another man said security forces ordered men and women into two rooms and executed them , one after the other . CNN can not independently verify these accounts . But the aftermath rings true for Syrians caught in the maelstrom of what is now called a civil war and the sight has become routine in areas where resolute residents have not buckled under to regime soldiers and their militia allies . Residents prepared the bodies for burial by unceremoniously wrapping up the dead in funeral sheets and removing them from the building where they were found . It is only now that the activists who filmed the grisly scenes were able to get the footage to Lebanon . The risk , the activists say , is worth it . Syrians activists say the world needs to get one more glimpse of the horror and despair engulfing Syria . Can the Geneva Conventions stop the carnage ?
The video shows the corpse of a little girl lying among other bodies . Security forces executed wiped out several families , residents say . The activists had a tough time making their way out of Douma .