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.
　　The carnage underlined just how far Syria is from any negotiated path out of the 14-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
　　"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."
　　Activists said Assad’s forces shelled the town of Houla on Friday evening after security forces killed a protester and following skirmishes between troops and fighters from the Sunni Muslim-led insurgency fighting Syria’s rulers, who belong to the minority Alawite sect.
　　Syrian state television aired some of the footage disseminated by activists after the killing in Houla, calling the bodies victims of a massacre committed by "terrorist" gangs.
　　It also showed video of bodies with what looked like gunshot wounds to the head, sprawled on bloodstained mattresses.
　　Activists distributed footage appearing to show protests in Aleppo, the largest city in the north.
　　A member of the fragmented exile group that says it speaks for Syria’s political opposition said Assad’s forces had killed "entire families" in Houla in addition to the shelling.
　　"The Syrian National Council (SNC) urges the U.N. Security Council to call for an emergency meeting ... and to determine the responsibility of the United Nations in the face of such mass killings," SNC spokeswoman Bassma Kodmani said.
　　French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius condemned the violence as a "massacre", and said he wanted to arrange a meeting in Paris of the Friends of Syria, a group that brings together Western and Arab countries keen to remove Assad.
　　Fabius said that "U.N. observers need to be able to complete their mission and the U.N.-Arab League’s joint special envoy’s exit plan has to be implemented immediately".
　　In a statement, Arab League head Nabil Elaraby called the killing in Houla a "horrific crime", urging the U.N. Security Council - where Russia and China have protected Syria - to "stop the escalation of killing and violence by armed gangs and government military forces."
　　Syria calls the revolt a "terrorist" conspiracy run from abroad, a veiled reference to Sunni Muslim Gulf powers that want to see weapons provided to an insurgency led by Syria’s majority Sunnis against Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect.
　　U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday that recent bomb attacks may have been the work of "established terrorist groups" and urged states not to supply arms to either the government or rebel forces.
　　"Those who may contemplate supporting any side with weapons, military training or other military assistance, must reconsider such options to enable a sustained cessation of violence," he told the Security Council in a letter.
　　The United Nations has accused Assad’s forces and insurgents alike of grave human rights abuses, including summary executions and torture.
　　【新闻快讯】
　　叙利亚中部霍姆斯省胡拉镇25日发生92位平民被屠杀的事件，其中32人是儿童。惨案受到国际社会普遍谴责，联合国叙利亚监督团更担忧内战可能爆发，而被反对派指责制造事件的叙利亚政府否认事件是由军方制造。
　　联合国叙利亚监督团26日上午前往胡拉镇进行了实地考察，团长穆德当晚在大马士革说，他们在现场发现了32具不满10岁的儿童尸体和另外60具尸体，在这一事件中共有92人死亡。他强调观察员对现场检查后证实，事件中使用了坦克和大炮的炮弹。
　　而路透社引述叙利亚反对派活跃人士表示，至少有109名平民在屠杀中遭杀害。反对派并对外发布怀疑是事发时拍摄的影像，其中有建筑物被炮击而冒 出黑烟的画面，反对派指责当局制造了惨案。同时视频网站YouTube上载的片段显示，胡拉镇有多具儿童尸体躺在地上，部份尸体血肉模糊，其中一名小童的 头颅更被炸去一部份，十分恐怖。
　　穆德表示，无论哪一方犯下这一罪行都应当对此承担责任，过度使用武力和不对称武力冲突是不可接受的。他警告，那些使用武力的人正在试图加剧叙利亚危机甚至引导叙利亚走向内战。
　　叙利亚外交部发言人麦戈迪斯27日表示当局完全不认为需对这起针对该国人民的屠杀负责。法新社说，麦戈迪斯将杀戮事件归咎于“恐怖分子”，并称政府已展开调查。他同时表示，联合国暨阿拉伯国家联盟特使安南将抵达叙利亚，与高层官员举行最新会谈。
　　国际社会对屠杀表达强烈意见，联合国秘书长潘基文发表声明，谴责袭击无辜平民；美国国务卿希拉里称胡拉镇袭击事件为“凶残的袭击”，表示美国将和联合国一起对叙利亚政府施压，要求彻查事件，追究肇事者责任；法国外长法比尤斯形容这是屠杀，已经立即安排“叙利亚之友”国家在巴黎举行会议；英国也呼吁联合国安理会在未来几天内举行紧急会议。
　　阿拉伯国家联盟秘书长阿拉比在声明中指，对胡拉镇平民的袭击是“可怕的罪行”，他敦促联合国安理会采取措施，阻止叙利亚政府和武装分子造成暴力事件升级。阿盟现任主席国科威特27日表示，将联系阿盟成员国，举行紧急部长会议，以研商叙利亚情势。
　　这是叙利亚上个月宣布停火以来死伤最严重的暴力事件。联合国安理会4月21日一致通过决议，决定设立联叙监督团前往叙利亚监督叙政府和反对派执行停火协议情况。根据决议，潘基文每15天向安理会提交一份书面报告。而按照日程安排，联合国安理会将于本月30日上午就联叙监督团的部署情况举行闭门磋商会。