The UN Security Council has condemned in strongest terms the massacre in Syria, and said those responsible should be held accountable. The condemnation came in a press statement issued by the 15-nation council at the end of an emergency meeting.

The statement condemned the killing of civilians by shooting at close range and by severe physical abuse. The council blames the Syrian government forces for the shelling. But Russian Deputy UN Ambassador Alexander Pankin says Moscow is sceptical about that claim as it appears most of the victims were killed with knives or shot at point-blank range.

Meanwhile, Bashar Ja’afari, the Syrian permanent representative to the UN, called the massacre "appalling and unjustifiable." He said that those responsible for the crime will be brought to justice by the Syrian government according to the Syrian law.