“The Secretary-General believes that this latest atrocity, along with others prior to it, should be promptly and fully investigated and perpetrators brought to justice,” his spokesperson said in a statement.

“Deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian objects, including places of worship, constitutes a war crime. These heinous acts must stop immediately,” the statement added.

Council members expressed their deep sympathy and sincere condolences to the families of the victims of this “heinous act” and to the people of Syria and wished a swift recovery to the injured, Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member body for this month, said in a statement read out to the press.

Thursday’s bombing is the latest deadly incident in two-year-old conflict that has already claimed over 70,000 lives and displaced more than three million people since the uprising against President al-Assad began in March 2011. Some 1.1 million people have also been forced to flee Syria and take refuge in neighbouring countries.

The conflict has also spawned a massive humanitarian crisis and resulted in widespread human rights violations.

Today in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council decided to extend the mandate of the independent panel tasked with investigating alleged violations of international human rights law in Syria since March 2011.

Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has welcomed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s decision to conduct a UN investigation into the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria, and said her office stands ready to join the investigation if requested to do so.

“If chemical weapons do indeed turn out to have been used, this can only be described as an abominable and depraved act,” Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the High Commissioner, told reporters in Geneva.

“We hope these reports turn out to be incorrect, because if they are true this terrible conflict will have plunged to new depths,” he added.

The use of chemical weapons would most likely be either a crime against humanity or a war crime, said Colville. “The High Commissioner echoes the Secretary-General’s call that – if such a crime has been committed – those responsible must be held accountable.”

Ban announced that the UN will launch an independent investigation into the allegations, after receiving a formal request from the Syrian Government. The probe will start as soon as “practically possible” and the modalities are being worked on in close consultation with the relevant bodies, including the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

“The investigation mission is to look into the specific incident brought to my attention by the Syrian Government,” Mr. Ban told journalists on Thursday. “I am, of course, aware that there are other allegations of similar cases involving the reported use of chemical weapons,” he added.

Secretary-General’s spokesperson said that Ban had received a joint letter from France and the United Kingdom, in which they requested an investigation into several incidents of alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.

The Secretary-General has provided a reply letter to both missions, and requested them to provide additional information pertaining to the alleged incidents. He also replied to the letter from the Syrian Government to inform it that he had decided to establish a UN investigation on the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria.

He requested the Government to provide additional information pertaining to the alleged incident, and added that the mission would require full cooperation from all relevant Syrian authorities, including on the issue of unfettered access.

“We will not let these cowardly acts unravel the remarkable progress of the past ten months,” the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, said through a statement released by the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS).

UNPOS, the statement states, “condemns the terror attacks that have occurred in Somalia during the first half of February” including the killing of a popular Islamic scholar and a bombing of a Mogadishu beach.

Through the statement, Mr. Mahiga offered his extends his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and wished the injured a quick recovery.

The high-profile attacks include the assassination of a leading Somali Islamic scholar, Sheikh Abdiqadir “Ga’amey” Nur Farah, in Garowe. Mr. Nun Farah was reported killed while praying in a mosque.

His killing follows a suicide attack in the central town of Galkayo targeting top police officials in the Somali state of Puntland.

During the same period there have been terror attacks in other regions of South Central Somalia, including a car bomb attack at Mogadishu’s Lido beach restaurant on 16 February, and the killing of a Shibis District intelligence chief in the capital’s Nasib Buundo neighbourhood.

In today’s statement, Mr. Mahiga calls on Somalis “to strengthen their resolve to resist terrorism by working with the authorities to bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice.”

He also reiterated that UNPOS is committed to supporting security in Somali through its Government.

Somalia marked a historic political watershed last August when it swore-in the first formal parliament and ended a so-called “transition” phase which had begun with the 2004 launch of a UN-backed interim government. The previous functioning government ended in 1991 with the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

The improvements in security and political situations are allowing the UNPOS to relocate more of its operations to Mogadishu over the next six to 12 months, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, told the Security Council last week.

“They expressed their deep sympathy and sincere condolences to the victims of these heinous acts and their families and to the people and Governments of Algeria and those countries whose nationals have been affected,” said a statement issued to the press last night by Ambassador Masood Khan of Pakistan, which holds the rotating Council presidency for January.

The siege at the facility began on 16 January when militants stormed the gas plant and took the foreign and Algerian workers there hostage. The crisis has reportedly ended, but not before several hostages and militants were killed.

“The members of the Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice, and urge all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Algerian authorities in this regard,” said the statement.

Council members also reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.

“You can shoot a person, like the building that they shot,” Samaras told reporters yesterday evening outside ND’s offices. “You cannot shoot democracy though. Let this be heard by those who need to hear it: Democracy will not be terrorised.”

According to the police, shots were fired early Monday at the headquarters of New Democracy party, with one of the bullets penetrating the office of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. Two men fired two guns at the building at around 2:30 am (0030 GMT), police said. No one was injured.

A window was pierced on the side of the building and a bullet was found in Samaras’ office, according to government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou.

“A symbolic bullet for the prime minister, this is unheard of,” Kedikoglou told state television NET. “We will not let them terrorise us,” he said. “The government will do what is required to protect democracy.”

According to protothema.gr, security cameras show two hooded men armed with Kalashnikovs getting off a car and after walking 50 meters, stopping and from a 70-meter distance shooting at the neon sign of the ND offices.

Meanwhile, the burnt car found in Paleo Faliro is being thoroughly examined. While the inside of the vehicle is completely destroyed by the fire, police are trying to locate fingerprints or DNA from the offenders.