UN chief condemns village killings in Syria

United Nations, May 27 (IANS) UN Secretary-general Ban Ki- moon has strongly condemned an incident of massive killings, involving women and children, which occurred Friday in a Syrian village.

"The Secretary-general and the (UN-Arab League) Joint Special Envoy (for Syria Kofi Annan) condemn in the strongest possible terms the killing, confirmed by United Nations observers, of dozens of men, women and children and the wounding of hundreds more in the village of El-Houleh, near Homs," Xinhua quoted a statement issued on behalf of Ban and Annan Saturday.

It was reported that as many as 92 people had been killed in the incident.

Syrian opposition groups said it was caused by an artillery barrage by government forces Friday evening. However, Syria's state media blamed the massacre on "armed terrorist groups".