U.N. urges halt to Syrian violence

NEW YORK, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- The U.N. General Assembly Friday condemned the increasing use of heavy weapons by Syrian authorities and urging all sides to immediately cease armed violence.

The resolution, presented by the Arab Group, condemns "the increasing use by the Syrian authorities of heavy weapons, including indiscriminate shelling from tanks and helicopters, in population centers and the failure to withdraw its troops and the heavy weapons to their barracks."

It was adopted by a vote of 133 in favor to 12 against with 31 abstentions.

Two weeks ago the Security Council failed to agree on action to stop the bloodshed.

The resolution comes after special U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan resigned after months of unsuccessful attempts to end the conflict that has killed at least 17,000 people, CNN reported. Annan has called the peace mission to end the violence in Syria with a hopeless task and said Russia and China must persuade Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down.

At least 62 people were killed Thursday in Hama in what an opposition group called a "massacre."

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said even greater violence is expected in Aleppo, where he said there had been a "considerable buildup of military means."

Rebels have struck at a military base near the commercial center, while government troops used heavy weapons and warplanes fired on the western and northern parts of the city.

The United States has ruled out providing arms to the rebels but has said it might increase aid because of the inability of the Security Council to agree on stiffer sanctions against the Syrian regime.

Conflict-related suffering extends beyond the areas directly involved in fighting. The U.N. estimates farmers have suffered $1.8 billion in losses this year and that as many as 3 million Syrians will need food in the next 12 months.