.32 children among 90 dead in Syrian government 'massacre'
More than 90 people, including 32 children, have been killed in a Syrian government "massacre", as William Hague calls for an urgent session of the United Nations Security Council.
The head of a UN mission warned on Saturday of "civil war" in Syria after his observers counted more than 92 bodies, 32 of them children, in the central town of Houla following reports of a massacre there.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon joined a chorus of international condemnation amid mounting calls for world action to halt the bloodshed
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Friday's shelling in the city of Houla, in central Homs province, had led to what seemed to be one of the bloodiest episodes so far of the 15-month long uprising.
Unconfirmed amateur videos posted by activists on YouTube showed around 20 bodies, mostly young children, lying in a room. One man holds up the limp body of a boy aged around seven, a gaping hole punched in the lower portion of his face. "This child, what did he do to deserve this?", he shouts.
Other footage shows the corpses of men and women lying under patterned blankets, including what is said to be one entire family. "We're being slaughtered like sheep here," says one voice. "Where are the UN observers?" adds another.
William Hague, Foreign Secretary, has condemned the latest violence, saying the UK will press for an urgent session of the United Nations Security Council to co-ordinate the response to the "appalling" crime.
"There are credible and horrific reports that a large number of civilians have been massacred at the hands of Syrian forces in the town of Houla, including children," he said.
"Our urgent priority is to establish a full account of this appalling crime and to move swiftly to ensure that those responsible are identified and held to account.
"We are consulting urgently with our allies on a strong international response, including at the UN Security Council, the EU and UN human rights bodies.
Mr Hague urged President Bashar Assad's regime to grant "full and immediate" access to Houla for UN monitors and stop all military options, as demanded by special envoy Kofi Annan.
The Free Syrian Army said on Saturday it could no longer commit to the ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan unless there was an immediate solution to regime violence.
"We announce that unless the UN Security Council takes urgent steps for the protection of civilians, Annan's plan is going to go to hell," a statement by the FSA said.
The fresh claims of regime atrocities led the opposition Syrian National Council to call on the UN Security Council to take urgent action. At the same time, the Observatory accused the Arab and international communities of being "complicit" in the killing, saying that shelling that had begun on Friday had continued into the night. The Observatory said the international community was standing "silent in the face of the massacres committed by the Syrian regime."
Human rights monitors said the regime also deployed tanks to Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, for the first time since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began last March. Aleppo, Syria's economic hub, has previously been largely a bastion of support for the regime.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of the opposition accounts, which the Syrian government often claims are exaggerated. Damascus has restricted access for foreign journalists during the anti-regime protests.
In a briefing to the UN Security Council, Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General, conceded there had been little progress in efforts to organise a ceasefire and that fighting was likely to continue as rebels held "significant" portions of several cities.
Mr Annan brokered a peace deal last month but it has had little impact and more than 1,500 people have been killed since it was announced, according to the Observatory.
Describing the killing in Houla, Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the monitoring group, said: "It was a real massacre that took place and the UN observers are just staying silent."
He added said helicopter gunships also went into action against rebels, strafing mountain villages in the Latakia area of northwestern Syria, near the Turkish border, wounding at least 20 people.
At least four policemen were killed in clashes with rebels in nearby Kansebba, he said.
Hours after massive anti-regime rallies across Aleppo, tanks deployed in the city, rumbling through the Kalasse and Bustan al-Kasr neighbourhoods after thousands attended a funeral, the monitoring group said.
Earlier it reported that a young man was killed in Aleppo when troops fired with live rounds and tear gas on protesters in the city.
Mr Abdel Rahman told AFP in Beirut that the protests in Aleppo were "the most important" in the city since the uprising started in March 2011.
The UN says more than 9,000 people have been killed, most of them civilians.
Telegraph
They don't give a fuck
The head of a UN mission warned on Saturday of "civil war" in Syria after his observers counted more than 92 bodies, 32 of them children, in the central town of Houla following reports of a massacre there.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon joined a chorus of international condemnation amid mounting calls for world action to halt the bloodshed
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Friday's shelling in the city of Houla, in central Homs province, had led to what seemed to be one of the bloodiest episodes so far of the 15-month long uprising.
Unconfirmed amateur videos posted by activists on YouTube showed around 20 bodies, mostly young children, lying in a room. One man holds up the limp body of a boy aged around seven, a gaping hole punched in the lower portion of his face. "This child, what did he do to deserve this?", he shouts.
Other footage shows the corpses of men and women lying under patterned blankets, including what is said to be one entire family. "We're being slaughtered like sheep here," says one voice. "Where are the UN observers?" adds another.
William Hague, Foreign Secretary, has condemned the latest violence, saying the UK will press for an urgent session of the United Nations Security Council to co-ordinate the response to the "appalling" crime.
"There are credible and horrific reports that a large number of civilians have been massacred at the hands of Syrian forces in the town of Houla, including children," he said.
"Our urgent priority is to establish a full account of this appalling crime and to move swiftly to ensure that those responsible are identified and held to account.
"We are consulting urgently with our allies on a strong international response, including at the UN Security Council, the EU and UN human rights bodies.
Mr Hague urged President Bashar Assad's regime to grant "full and immediate" access to Houla for UN monitors and stop all military options, as demanded by special envoy Kofi Annan.
The Free Syrian Army said on Saturday it could no longer commit to the ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan unless there was an immediate solution to regime violence.
"We announce that unless the UN Security Council takes urgent steps for the protection of civilians, Annan's plan is going to go to hell," a statement by the FSA said.
The fresh claims of regime atrocities led the opposition Syrian National Council to call on the UN Security Council to take urgent action. At the same time, the Observatory accused the Arab and international communities of being "complicit" in the killing, saying that shelling that had begun on Friday had continued into the night. The Observatory said the international community was standing "silent in the face of the massacres committed by the Syrian regime."
Human rights monitors said the regime also deployed tanks to Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, for the first time since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began last March. Aleppo, Syria's economic hub, has previously been largely a bastion of support for the regime.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of the opposition accounts, which the Syrian government often claims are exaggerated. Damascus has restricted access for foreign journalists during the anti-regime protests.
In a briefing to the UN Security Council, Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General, conceded there had been little progress in efforts to organise a ceasefire and that fighting was likely to continue as rebels held "significant" portions of several cities.
Mr Annan brokered a peace deal last month but it has had little impact and more than 1,500 people have been killed since it was announced, according to the Observatory.
Describing the killing in Houla, Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the monitoring group, said: "It was a real massacre that took place and the UN observers are just staying silent."
He added said helicopter gunships also went into action against rebels, strafing mountain villages in the Latakia area of northwestern Syria, near the Turkish border, wounding at least 20 people.
At least four policemen were killed in clashes with rebels in nearby Kansebba, he said.
Hours after massive anti-regime rallies across Aleppo, tanks deployed in the city, rumbling through the Kalasse and Bustan al-Kasr neighbourhoods after thousands attended a funeral, the monitoring group said.
Earlier it reported that a young man was killed in Aleppo when troops fired with live rounds and tear gas on protesters in the city.
Mr Abdel Rahman told AFP in Beirut that the protests in Aleppo were "the most important" in the city since the uprising started in March 2011.
The UN says more than 9,000 people have been killed, most of them civilians.
Telegraph
They don't give a fuck
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