Lakhdar Brahimi briefed the UN Security Council after a recent massacre came to light.

The United Nations-Arab League Envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, on Tuesday, January 29, 2013 warned that the country is being destroyed bit by bit with grave consequences for the wider region, BBC reported.

He was briefing the UN Security Council hours after evidence emerged of a fresh massacre in the northern city of Aleppo in which at least 71 bodies were found by a river in the western Bustan al-Qasr District. The envoy said the conflict in Syria had reached what he described as unprecedented levels of horror, calling for unity in the Security Council to bring it to a quick end.

The Algerian diplomat said Syria was breaking up before everyone's eyes and only the international community, especially the UN Security Council, could help. He told reporters after the closed door meeting that both the Syrian government and opposition were destroying the country.

Earlier, video footage of the gruesome discovery in Aleppo was posted by Syrian activists on the Internet. The video shows a large number of bodies strewn in and around the banks of River Quwaiq in an area controlled by rebels. The bodies are caked in mud with victims having been shot in the head, apparently at close range. The government and opposition have blamed each other for the killings.

Al Jazeera TV reported that Brahimi's warning also came just hours before a UN conference opened in Kuwait yesterday, January 30, 2013 at which 1.1 billion Dollars (about FCFA 533 billion) was pledged for Syria's neighbours sheltering 700,000 registered refugees. The funds are also to finance humanitarian work for four million Syrians inside their country.

The UN says the conflict has left more than 60,000 people dead in almost two years. The Security Council has been divided over Syria for months.