UN observers confirms death of 92 people in Syrian town
Beirut - United Nations observers confirmed Saturday, after visiting a town in central Syria, that 92 people had died there - among them 32 children - in what activists said was shelling by government forces.
The head of the UN observers in Syria, Robert Mood, described the incident in the town of Houla as a "brutal tragedy."
Members of the UN team toured Houla to assess the situation after reports of a massacre in the town, where activists said more than 100 people were killed on Friday night after heavy shelling on the area by Syrian troops.
Blasts and gunfire were heard in Houla, 200 kilometres north of Damascus, as the observers arrived in the town, activists said.
The reported massacre was one of the worst in Syria's 15-month uprising.
The rebel opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) called on the UN to meet its responsibilities and stop the violence in Syria. Otherwise, it said, the group could no longer commit to the ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan.
Annan and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement condemning the killings.
"This appalling and brutal crime involving indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force is a flagrant violation of international law and of the commitments of the Syrian government to cease the use of heavy weapons in population centres and violence in all its forms," they said in a statement released in New York and Geneva.
"Those responsible for perpetrating this crime must be held to account," they said, calling on President Bashar al-Assad to end the use of heavy weaponry in populated areas and end all violence in the country.//DPA
