LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan condemned "atrocities," as unverifiable video evidence of casualties from this week's attack on the village in rebellious Hama province emerged on the Web.

Annan was "shocked and appalled" at "intense fighting, significant casualties, and the confirmed use of heavy weaponry such as artillery, tanks and helicopters" in the village.

While Annan wrote to the United Nations Security Council to penalize Syria, Western powers still face objections from Russia and China to their efforts to push Assad from power in the U.N. council.

There remains no independent account of the battle, which the government described as a massacre by "terrorist groups."

Some activists claim that over 220 people died when Tremseh was bombarded by helicopter gunships and tanks, then stormed by men from neighboring villages in what they portrayed as a sectarian attack on Sunnis by Assad's fellow Alawites.

Others say that Tremseh's death toll may have been less -- but over 100, which would make Tremseh one of the worst atrocities of the 17-month revolt.

State television reported that there was fighting in Tremseh and accused "armed terrorist groups" of committing a massacre there, but gave no death toll. Opposition rebels also said there was a battle and the U.N. military representative confirmed it.

Opposition video segments posted on YouTube provided evidence that dozens had met a violent death.

One piece of film to appear on the Internet showed the corpses of 15 young men. Wearing T-shirts and jeans with faces or shirts drenched in blood.

Other videos showed rows of bodies wrapped in blankets, sheets and makeshift shrouds, some leaking blood. One man pulled aside a blanket to display a carbonized corpse.

Grieving women and distraught men were also shown packed in a mosque where bodies were collected, identified and prepared. Children stepped gingerly among the corpses covering the floor.

The White House said further "atrocities" by Assad's forces says that a coordinated international response was necessary at the United Nations. An Obama spokesman said that through "repeated acts of violence against the Syrian people" Assad had lost the legitimacy to lead.

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