92 killed, 32 of them children in Syria shelling
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E-mail China.org.cn, May 27, 2012
Head of UN observers mission to Syria condemned on Saturday the "tragic and brutal" massacre that took place a day earlier in Syrian's central village of Houla and claimed the lives of more than 90 people, warning that the ongoing violence would eventually lead the country to a civil war.
Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, head of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria, condemned "in the strongest possible terms the brutal tragedy that occurred Saturday in the village of Houla."
Speaking during a press briefing on Saturday, Mood said that " last night, we had fighting and shelling in the village... it involved artillery, tanks machine guns... we received reports this morning that there were significant losses in Houla."
Mood said he deployed observers to the village on Saturday morning, adding that "they were able to confirm with their own eyes the death of 32 children under the age of 10 years old... They counted additional bodies of women and men, estimated the number of being approximately 60."
"This is by whatever standard a terrible tragedy for each family, for the village and for the Syrian people," he said."This indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force is unacceptable and unforgivable."
"The death of 32 children is something that is absolutely deplorable" Mood added. "The killing of innocent children and civilians needs to stop."
A team of UN observers was sent to Houla, trying to establishing more of the facts, Mood said.
Mood said that the circumstances that led to these "tragic killings" are still unclear, but he urged the Syrian government and the opposition to cease use of violence in all forms. "This is exactly what we need to stop, to bring the situation forward on a political solution."
"Those who use violence for their own agenda will create more instability, more unpredictability and may lead the country to a civil war," he said.
Earlier in the day, the state-TV showed footage of the carnage in Houla, blaming armed extremists of carrying out the slaughtering there, contrary to what activists said as government troops carried out the massacre.
The state TV also said that armed groups have burned down the national hospital in Houla to frame the government before the upcoming visit of UN-Arab League joint special envoy Kofi Annan, who is due to visit Syria by the end of this month to discuss the implementation of his six-point peace plan that called for the secession of violence from all concerned parties in the conflict.
The TV said that more massacres were carried out Saturday by armed groups at al-Shomarieh town in Homs and claimed the lives of more than 10 people.
Media reports said severe clashes took place over the past night in Homs, causing several families to flee Houla on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Syrian opposition's main coalition, Turkey-based Syrian National Council, said more than 110 people were killed by pro-government militia in Houla.
Amateur video posted online showed people in Houla burying dozens of their relatives in mass graves.
Opposition activists said anti-regime rallies were staged in several Syrian cities to protest the massacre, which is the largest since the UN cease-fire truce went into effect on April 12.
The ongoing violence continued unabated despite the deployment of more than 250 UN observers, who began to arrive in Syria last month to monitor the sloppy cease-fire truce.
The situation in Syria has morphed into sectarian conflicts and revenge crimes in a country where Sunni pose 70 percent of its 24 million inhabitants ruled by the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.
On Friday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said "there is a continuing crisis on the ground (in Syria), characterized by regular violence, deteriorating humanitarian conditions, human rights violations and continued political confrontation."
"There continues to be daily violent incidents across the country, leading to a large number of deaths and injuries, albeit at a lower scale than immediately before 12 April 2012," he said.
"The Syrian army has not ceased the use of or pulled back their heavy weapons in many areas," Ban said, adding "there has also been an alarming number of explosions in population centers, including acts of terrorism."
The UN says Syria's 15-month-old unrest has claimed the lives of 10,000 people.
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