International envoy Kofi Annan said on Friday he was "shocked and appalled" by reports that tanks and helicopters killed about 200 people during a massacre in a Syrian village.

"I condemn these atrocities in the strongest possible terms," he said in a statement.

"I am shocked and appalled by news coming out of the village of Traimseh, near Hama, of intense fighting, significant casualties and the confirmed use of heavy weaponry such as artillery, tanks and helicopters," said Annan.

The joint UN-Arab League mediator said that it was "desperately urgent that this violence and brutality stops".

It was "more important than ever that governments with influence exert it more effectively to ensure that the violence ends immediately", he added.

Annan said the attack was in violation of the government's undertaking to cease using heavy weapons in population centers and its commitment to the six-point peace plan.

However, the plan has not taken hold since the very beginning due to continued fighting between government troops and armed rebels.

Xinhua-AFP

(China Daily 07/14/2012 page8)