US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has joined world leaders to condemn the "atrocity" of the deaths of 92 people - including 32 children - in the Syrian town of Houla, which has prompted global calls for world action to end the bloodshed.
Clinton said the United States would work with its international allies to increase the pressure on President Bashar al-Assad and his "cronies" after the reported massacre, saying their "rule by murder and fear must come to an end".
"The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms yesterday's massacre in the Syrian village of Houla," Clinton said in a statement released by her spokeswoman.
The UN mission said 92 bodies, 32 of them children aged less than 10, had been counted in Houla after reports of an artillery bombardment by Assad's forces.
Ban reaffirmed that UN observers who went to Houla had "viewed the bodies of the dead and confirmed from an examination of ordnance that artillery and tank shells were fired at a residential neighbourhood."
The death toll is one of the highest for any single event since the popular uprising against Assad began in March 2011. The UN says more than 9000 people have been killed in total, most of them civilians.
A local activist reached via Skype said regime forces started shelling the village of Houla, about 40km north-west of the city of Homs in west-central Syria, after an anti-regime demonstration following Muslim prayers on Friday. Twelve people were killed in the shelling, said the activist, who gave his name as Abu Yazan.
Later, pro-regime thugs stormed the village of Taldaw, just south of Houla, raiding homes and shooting at civilians.
"They killed entire families, from parents on down to children, but they focused on the children," he said.
Amateur videos posted online showed many children among the dozens of dead laid out in different rooms and covered with sheets and blankets. One video showed 14 dead children lined up on a floor, shoulder to shoulder.
