Supporters of the Syrian uprising were reminded on Monday that having their revolution documented in such detail online can be a mixed blessing, as video appeared to show rebel fighters hurling dead soldiers off the roof of a building after a recent battle.

The grisly celebration last month in the northern town of al-Bab can be seen in extremely graphic video recorded as bodies thudded to the ground and observers rushed forward with their mobile phone. (Before viewing the distressing clip on YouTube, readers must click past a warning from the video-sharing site.)

A Syrian activist in al-Bab, Barry Abdul Latif, told The Los Angeles Times via Skype that the video was recorded three weeks ago outside the local post office, after rebels killed five members of the security forces holed up there. “There were snipers on the roof of the post office,” he said. “Finally, the rebels managed to storm the post office and threw explosive devices, and the five snipers were killed. Then the rebels threw the bodies from the roof.”

The images surfaced at the same time as other clips, said to show summary executions of prisoners by rebel fighters, enraged some supporters of the uprising.

Although gunshots can be heard in the video before some of the bodies were thrown off the rooftop, Mr. Latif insisted that the men were killed in battle, but criticized the mistreatment of the bodies in a series of updates posted on Twitter on Monday — and translated into English by another activist who writes as @NuffSilence.

After 24 hours only 5 snipers on roof were left, they killed 7 FSA, & 38 civilians were killed in artillery shelling RT @Barry_Albab — Nuff Silence (@NuffSilence) 13 Aug 12

So after 24 hours #FSA had to use grenades to neutralize the snipers, which eventually killed them & disfigured their bodies RT @Barry_Albab — Nuff Silence (@NuffSilence) 13 Aug 12

At the end, people got up to the roof and threw the bodies off. We still don’t know who did that so we could punish them RT @Barry_Albab — Nuff Silence (@NuffSilence) 13 Aug 12

Later we distributed flier to raise awareness among FSA and civilians. We also asked mosque preachers to speak up against it RT @Barry_Albab — Nuff Silence (@NuffSilence) 13 Aug 12

In another update posted on his @Barry_Albab feed, Mr. Latif said that activists in the town had collected the bodies dropped outside the post office and given them proper Muslim burials.

As the Washington Post correspondent Liz Sly reported from al-Bab last month, the town, 30 miles northeast of Aleppo, in a patch of rural territory along the Turkish border now under rebel control, joined the armed uprising only three months ago.

Activists in the town told Ms. Sly that local men took up arms in May, after the security forces opened fire on a demonstration for the first time, killing seven protesters. They seized control of most of al-Bab on July 18.

After a 24-hour battle, residents told the Washington Post reporter, a Free Syrian Army fighter finally took out a sniper’s nest on the roof of the post office building with a rocket-propelled grenade. A widely seen video of that rocket strike appeared to show a soldier blown into the air by the force of the blast.

Video apparently recorded on the roof of the post office building later that day, showing rebel fighters taking control and very graphic close-ups of the mangled bodies of dead soldiers, was posted on an al-Bab opposition Facebook page.

Mr. Latif told The Lede via Twitter on Monday that he did not know who had recorded the video of the bodies being flung off the roof that day and was puzzled as to why it had appeared online now.

In another conversation on the social network, the activist who writes as @NuffSilence speculated that the clip was probably passed from phone to phone until it reached a supporter of President Bashar al-Assad. As The Lede reported last year, several graphic video clips showing the bodies of dead protesters or rebels being abused by Syrian government soldiers have followed a similar path, eventually being acquired and posted online by opposition activists.

@RobertMackey yep. It’s certainly become near impossible to hide anything in this revo with the multitude of phone cameras. @barry_albab — Nuff Silence (@NuffSilence) 13 Aug 12

While the politics of the anonymous video blogger who uploaded the clip to an account registered in Lebanon on Saturday remain unknown, the video was quickly copied and reuploaded by an Assad supporter who added the description: “Turkey-sponsored FSA terrorists a/k/a Freedom Fighters a/k/a Al Qaeda, throwing bodies of slain policemen who were protecting the government post office building in al-Bab.”

Given that several opposition activists have been urging restraint on the rebel Free Syrian Army, and instantly condemned the video from al-Bab on Twitter, it also seems possible that the clip might have been posted online now by a government opponent who was horrified by the scene.

Nobody dare justify this video to me – just because they are beasts and murderers, doesn’t mean we adopt their ways.

#Aleppo #Syria — NMSyria (@NMSyria) 12 Aug 12

More important than ever for #FSA to adhere to a code of conduct & denounce terrorism & barbarism perpetrated by all others in #Syria — Rafif Jouejati (@RafifJ) 12 Aug 12

As they called us traitors for condemning similar “Revolutionary” crimes, here I accuse every Syrian cheers for this of being a traitor. — Ḱ@яℯℯм ℒαḯł@н (@KareemLailah) 12 Aug 12

I beg Syrian activists to stop justifying #FSA human rights violations. Either we expose the bad apples or we are all going to rot #Syria — wissamtarif (@wissamtarif) 12 Aug 12

Efforts to hold the Free Syrian Army accountable might be complicated by the informal nature of the rebel network. Ms. Sly reported from al-Bab last month that 15 different groups have taken up arms there since May. While they “collectively describe themselves as part of the Free Syrian Army,” she wrote, “they have no formal contact with the army’s leadership, based in southern Turkey.”