HOMS, Syria, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- At least seven people died in Syria Saturday, as the United Nations attempts to reach a resolution to end violence in the country, officials said.
The U.N. General Assembly is working on a draft resolution asking Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and end violence in the country, the BBC reported.
A similar resolution was shot down by Russia and China in the Security Council.
"We do believe that, in order to stop violence, armed methods must be stopped not only by the government, but also by the opposition," said Vitaly Churkin, a Russian representative in the United Nations. "That was the key flaw of the draft resolution."
Meanwhile, protesters in Homs have been under attack by Assad's regime for a week, CNN reported.
"Today is the seventh day in a row we're under shelling -- non-stop bombardment," an activist named Omar said Saturday. He said government forces have surrounded Homs with soldiers and tanks -- "not the normal tanks. Big tanks. Russian tanks."
Six people were killed in Homs Saturday and another person in suburban Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group, said.
The United Nations estimated that 6,000 people have died in the country since the uprising began nearly a year ago.
