EU Condemns Syria Daraya 'Massacre'

The European Union condemned on Monday a "massacre" in the town of Daraya near Damascus, Syria, where rebels reported the discovery of hundreds of bodies.

"We regret and strongly condemn this sort of violence, it's totally unacceptable," Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign affairs High Representative Catherine Ashton, told a news briefing.

The circumstances of what opposition militants said was a brutal onslaught of shelling, summary executions and house-to-house raids by government troops, and what Mann called "disgraceful massacres, whoever they're perpetrated by," were "not entirely clear," he said.

He added: "We condemn unreservedly also violence by the regime against the people of Syria."

Mann said of the EU aim to bring about a "peaceful transition to democracy" that "in terms of our involvement with the opposition, of course we support the opposition -- any opposition groups who believe in human rights and democracy and want to have a democratic transition in the country."

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had reported on Sunday the discovery of 320 bodies in Daraya, including at least 15 women and 14 children, with a further 14 bodies added to its tally on Monday.

The Local Coordination Committees -- a network of activists on the ground -- described the killings as a "massacre" by the regime of President Bashar Assad.

After several days of an army offensive against insurgents in the town, southwest of the capital, Syria's official SANA news agency says the offensive was aimed at "terrorist mercenaries" in the town.

Around 25,000 people -- most of them civilians -- have been killed in Syria since the outbreak of a revolt in March last year turned into a bloody insurgency after the regime launched a massive crackdown on dissent, according to Observatory figures.

It is impossible to independently verify death tolls reported in Syria because of severe restrictions on media operating there.