International envoy Kofi Annan said on Friday he was "shocked and appalled" by reports that tanks and helicopters killed about 200 people during a massacre in a Syrian village.

"I condemn these atrocities in the strongest possible terms," he said in a statement.

"I am shocked and appalled by news coming out of the village of Traimseh, near Hama, of intense fighting, significant casualties and the confirmed use of heavy weaponry such as artillery, tanks and helicopters," said Annan.