Syrian forces accused of killing 45 women and children Videos circulated by opposition activists and Syrian state television both showed the aftermath of the carnage, with bloodstained, charred and sometimes mutilated bodies lying strewn on a floor. Adnan Mahmoud, the information minister, told AFP news agency that "terrorist gangs" - the regime's usual phrase for the armed opposition - had carried out this "most horrible massacre." However, three separate opposition organisations all said the regime's forces were responsible. Britain, America and France want the Security Council to pass a resolution that would condemn Syria's violence, insist on free access for aid agencies and endorse the Arab League's effort to resolve the conflict. But Russia and China, who blocked the last attempt to agree a resolution, are wary of any draft that might pave the way for Mr Assad's departure or a transition to a new regime. However, Russia agreed with the Arab League last weekend that regional diplomacy was needed to address the crisis. The Western powers hope the Kremlin will allow the passage of a resolution endorsing the Arab League's approach towards Syria. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, told the Security Council that the "international community should say with one voice - without hesitation or caveat - that the killings of innocent Syrians must stop and a political transition must begin." Baroness Amos, the UN under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, was the first international official to visit Homs last week. Five days later, she gave her first public account of what she had witnessed, saying that "no building was untouched" in Baba Amr and "there was clear evidence of the use of heavy artillery and tanks." The district was "deserted" and there was no sign of what had become of its 60-70,000 inhabitants, added Lady Amos. She urged the regime to allow "unhindered access" for aid agencies. The UN Human Rights Council said that the bombardment of Baba Amr had amounted to "collective punishment" of a civilian population. In a new report on Syria's violence, it accused the regime of torturing its opponents inside hospitals, rendering many people too afraid to seek treatment for their wounds. "The commission documented evidence that sections of Homs Military Hospital and al-Ladhiqiyah State Hospital had been transformed into torture centres," said the UN report. Security agents, in some cases joined by medical staff, chained seriously injured patients to their beds, electrocuted them, beat wounded parts of their body or denied them medical attention and water.