Women and children raped and mutilated in Homs massacre

Dozens of civilians in the Syrian city of Homs were killed in cold blood, the government and opposition said yesterday, disputing responsibility for what both sides called a massacre during a visit from UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan.

“There are grave and appalling reports of atrocities and abuses,” Annan told reporters in Ankara before meeting Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

“Killings of civilians must end now. The world must send a clear and united message that this is simply unacceptable.”