U.S. envoy to Syria appalled by violence

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DAMASCUS, Syria, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- The killing of hundreds of people at the hands of Syrian security forces is a tragedy condemned by much of the world, the U.S. envoy to Damascus said.

A statement posted on the Facebook page for the U.S. Embassy in Damascus said "hundreds" of people were killed in Syrian during the past few weeks.

"The killing at the hands of Syrian security forces of hundreds of civilians during the past weeks is appalling and the United States and many other countries and organizations have vigorously condemned it," a statement attributed to U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford read. "Each of these killings is a tragedy and a crime."

The Syrian government maintains its dealing with an armed insurrection. Arab League monitors are on the ground in Syrian ostensibly to ensure the government, as promised last year, was pulling its security forces from the streets.

Ford was quoted as saying the Syrian government was called on to start the process toward political transition and put an end "to killing and torturing" of protesters in the country.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reports Tuesday that three members of the military and one police officer were buried in the restive western province of Homs. SANA reports they were killed by "armed terrorists" in the country. A natural gas pipeline was bombed Tuesday in the region as well.