The village of Taldou, near the town of Houla in Syria’s Homs province was the scene of one of the worst massacres in the country’s 14-month-long uprising on Friday.

United Nations observers on the ground have confirmed that at least 108 people were killed, including 49 children and 34 women. Some were killed by shell fire, others appear to have been shot or stabbed at close range.

Activists and eyewitnesses say the Syrian army shelled the town, reportedly at first with tank fire then with mortars, in a sustained bombardment that lasted at least two hours.

This tallies with UN accounts of tank and mortar shells in civilian areas. The UN Security Council issued a statement saying that “such outrageous use of force against civilian population constitutes a violation of applicable international law”.

Source: BBC News

Commenting on the killings, Ribal Al-Assad, the Director of the ODFS, said:

“I condemn this brutal and barbaric crime. The perpetrators must be brought to justice. I call on both sides in the Syrian conflict to halt the violence and move towards dialogue and a peaceful transition as that is the only way forward.”