The road to Haffa, once a town of 24,000 people and popular with tourists, is now empty with most of hte people gone, and in their plane are left burnt out cars, bombed buildings, and according to the United Nations observers, a stench of dead bodies.

The UN had been trying to get into Haffa for a week, amid fears of a brutal assault by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

What observers found was evidence of a recent battle, and a strong Syrian army presence.

Al Jazeera's Dominic Kane reports.