GENEVA - Syria's crackdown on protests has intensified, with the death toll climbing to 2,700, an increase of 100 in the past week, the United Nations human rights office said on Monday.

Kyung-wha Kang, deputy UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the UN Human Rights Council: "As of today, 2,700 people, including at least 100 children, have been killed by military and security forces since mass protests erupted in mid-March."

"Let me conclude by emphasising the importance of holding perpetrators of crimes against humanity accountable. The office has found that such crimes may have been committed in Syria," she said, citing a UN report issued in August.