(CNN) — United Nations observers made it to the site of a massacre Friday after they were blocked access the day before, a Syrian activist said.
The U.N. team was shown burned houses and graves of the victims in the village of Qubeir, activist Mousab Alhamadee said.
At least 78 people were killed in Qubeir, according to the opposition network Local Coordination Committees of Syria.
A video of the carnage was posted on YouTube. CNN could not independently verify its authenticity.
Opposition activists said government forces shelled Qubeir for an hour before militias on foot turned AK-47 rifles on people, some at close range, or slashed them with knives. Some residents suspected the Shabiha, armed gangs that work as freelancers for the government.
he showed the U.N. monitors the aftermath of shelling by Syrian forces. He then fled the area, he said, because the military threatened death to residents who approached the U.N. team.
The Syrian government blamed terrorists for the attack in Qubeir and said nine people were killed.
Graphic images of the Qubeir massacre sparked strong condemnation for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who international leaders said has failed to abide by a peace plan brokered by Kofi Annan, a special envoy on Syria for the United Nations and the Arab League.
Annan was meeting Friday with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after a marathon session on Syria in the U.N. General Assembly.
He said the two will discuss ways to ratchet up pressure on al-Assad to change his course of action and what other options the international community has in terms of halting the bloodshed.
Al-Assad is accused of engineering a bloody crackdown to suppress a 15-month anti-government uprising.
“Syria is a real, real challenge,” Annan said.
At least 40 people were killed in the violence Friday, the Local Coordination Committees reported.
Also Friday, China condemned the ongoing violence in Syria, while throughout the embattled country, warplanes flew overhead and the sounds of explosions and gunfire echoed as protesters gathered for another round of demonstrations.
Â
