Syria army, militia likely responsible for massacre: UN

UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said on Tuesday that the army and militia supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were probably responsible for killing people with small arms and knives in the massacre of 108 civilians in Houla.

"Part of the victims had been killed by artillery shells, now that points ever so clearly to the responsibility of the government. Only the government has heavy weapons, has tanks, has howitzers," Ladsous told reporters. "But there are also victims from individual weapons, victims from knife wounds and that of course is less clear but probably points the way to the (pro-Assad) shabbihas, the local militia," he said.

Most of the at least 108 people killed in the Syrian town of Houla were civilians and entire families were shot in their homes while fewer than 20 were killed by artillery and tank fire, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday "There was strong suspicions that the shabbihas were involved in the tragedy in Houla," Ladsous said. "Indeed (there) have been similarly very strong rumors that in other places in other instances of extreme violence they were involved."

"When you look at the situation from the ground you see a number of military and security forces who are in uniform but you see also a substantial number of people who are dressed in civilian clothes, yet are heavily armed with machine guns and all that," he said.