Syrian government troops using tanks and helicopters Thursday massacred more than 150 people in the central province of Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, while a rebel leader put the toll at more than 200.

The village of Treimsa was shelled by Syrian troops and later stormed by pro-government Shabbiha militia, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Many people in the village were killed by the shelling and more were shot later in the head, execution-style, it added.

The body of a doctor was discovered after the sustained attack, apparently shot dead as he tried to save dozens of wounded civilians.

Government troops also reportedly destroyed a village school, a Hama-based activist said, with the number of children killed unknown. “The village school was totally destroyed,” the activist, calling himself Abu Ghazi, told via Skype.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that the bodies of 30 villagers had already been identified following the sustained attack.

Sana state news agency said “bloodthirsty media in collaboration with armed terrorists massacred residents of Tremseh village” to provoke international intervention on the eve of a UN Security Council meeting.