New attack kills dozens of Syrian children

BEIRUT -- Gruesome video Saturday showed rows of dead Syrian children lying in a mosque in bloody shorts and T-shirts with gaping head wounds, haunting images of what activists called one of the deadliest regime attacks yet in Syria's 14-month-old uprising.

The shelling attack on Houla, a group of villages northwest of the central city of Homs, killed more than 90 people, including at least 32 children younger than 10, the head of the UN observer team in Syria said.

The attacks sparked outrage among international leaders and anti-regime groups and large protests in Syria, including the suburbs of the capital of Damascus and its largest city, Aleppo. It also renewed fears of the relevance of a month-old international peace plan that has not stopped almost-daily violence.

The UN denounced the attacks in a statement that appeared to hold President Bashar Assad's regime responsible.

"This appalling and brutal crime involving indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force is a flagrant violation of international law and of the commitments of the Syrian government to cease the use of heavy weapons in population centers and violence in all its forms," said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and international envoy Kofi Annan.

Activists from Houla said yesterday that regime forces peppered the area with mortars after large demonstrations against the regime on Friday.

The Syrian government blamed the killings on "armed terrorist groups" -- a term it often uses for the opposition -- but provided no details or death toll.

The videos could not be independently verified. The Syrian government bars most media from operating inside the country.