At least 32 children killed in Syria massacre

The United Nations said that more than 100 people including 32 children were killed in the worst violence since the start of a U.N. peace plan to slow the flow of blood in Syria's uprising. The bloodied bodies of children, some with their skulls split open, were shown in footage posted to YouTube purporting to show the victims of the shelling in the central town of Houla on Friday. The sound of wailing filled the room. "This morning U.N. military and civilian observers went to Houla and counted more than 32 children under the age of 10 and over 60 adults killed," the head of U.N. team monitoring the ceasefire - which has yet to take hold - said. "The observers confirmed from examination of ordinances the use of artillery tank shells," Major General Robert Mood said in a statement, without elaborating. "Whoever started, whoever responded and whoever carried out this deplorable act of violence should be held responsible."

In a statement, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded "the government of Syria immediately cease the use of heavy weapons in population centres." "Women, children and old men were shot dead. This is not the hallmark of the heroic Syrian army," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdesi told reporters in Damascus. Syrian authorities, however, denied carrying out the massacre. Source and images: Reuters