UN Security Council condemns Syria over massacre

The UN Security Council on Sunday unanimously condemned the Syrian government for heavy-weapons attacks on the town of Houla, the site of a massacre of at least 108 people, including many children, the council president said.

"The Security Council condemned in the strongest possible terms the killings, confirmed by United Nations observers, of dozens of men, women and children and the wounding of hundreds more in the village of (Houla), near Homs, in attacks that involved a series of government artillery and tank shellings on a residential neighborhood," the non-binding statement said.

"The Security Council also condemned the killing of civilians by shooting at close range and by severe physical abuse," said the statement, which was read out after the council's three-hour emergency meeting by Azerbaijan's Deputy UN Ambassador Tofig Musayev.

"Such outrageous use of force against civilian population constitutes a violation of applicable international law and of the commitments of the Syrian Government under United Nations Security Council Resolutions," the statement said.