Ban Ki-moon: Syrian civil war death toll tops 100,000

NEW YORK, July 26 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an end to the Syrian civil war and said the death toll in the conflict has exceeded 100,000.

Speaking from United Nations headquarters in New York, Ban said Thursday he and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would step up efforts for peace negotiations between Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and the opposition, the U.N. News Center reported.

"More than 100,000 people have been killed, and millions of people have either been displaced or become refugees in neighboring countries. We have to bring this to an end," Ban said.

Kerry said he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were committed to bringing the two sides together to discuss a solution, the Press Trust of India reported.

"There is no military solution to Syria," Kerry said while in New York to meet with Syrian opposition members. "There is only a political solution, and that will require leadership in order to bring people to the table."

One of the latest reports of Syrian violence came from the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, where a car bomb killed 17 people, Voice of America reported.