AMMAN: Facing mounting international outrage over the killing of at least 109 people in the restive town of Houla, Syria on Sunday accused rebels of carrying out the massacre, in which dozens of children were murdered.  

Syrian authorities blamed "terrorists" for the massacre, among the worst carnage in the 14-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, which has cost about 10,000 lives.  

"Women, children and old men were shot dead. This is not the hallmark of the heroic Syrian army," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdesi told reporters in Damascus.  

Opposition activists said Assad's forces shelled Houla after a protest and then clashed with fighters from the Sunni Muslim-led insurgency. AGENCIES