On a bedroom floor, the bodies of Syrian children lie like discarded dolls. The eyes of some are still open and, hauntingly, their expressions are frozen in fright.

No older than eight, a blood-soaked girl wearing a headscarf and pink diamante belt, is face to face with a younger boy. 

Around them, a dozen others, some with their arms outstretched, lie shoulder to shoulder.

Men are said to have been killed on the streets, while women and children were shot and stabbed in their homes.

The images, almost impossible to bear, came from film taken by an amateur and posted online.

In the background the voice of an adult can be heard crying: ‘Oh God, oh God, oh God.’