A handout image released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network on Saturday shows smoke rising following shelling by government forces on the restive city of Homs.
United Nations monitors suspended their activities and patrols in Syria on Saturday, saying that an “intensification of armed violence” in the last 10 days had put its observers in danger and impeded the group’s ability to carry out its mandate.
“U.N. observers will not be conducting patrols and will stay in their locations until further notice,” the head of the mission, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, said in a statement.
The suspension of activities, he said, would be reviewed “on a daily basis.”
“Operations will resume when we see the situation fit for us to carry out our mandated activities,” General Mood said.
Citing the escalating violence and a “lack of willingness by the parties to seek a peaceful transition,” General Mood said losses were increasing on both sides — with innocent civilians, including children, being killed every day. A day earlier, General Mood noted that violence had been intensifying over the last 10 days on both sides of the fight.
His remarks come two months after the Security Council authorized the deployment of the monitoring group for 90 days. The cease-fire was considered the first goal in a six-point peace plan intended to lead to a political dialogue between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and his opponents.
As the sides moved toward “advancing military positions,” General Mood said, those paying the price were Syrians, who in some cases have been trapped by the violence.
In response to Saturday’s announcement, a White House spokesman, Tommy Vietor, said in a statement that the Obama administration was consulting its international partners on the “next steps toward a Syrian-led political transition.”
Mr. Vietor also called on the Syrian government to uphold its commitment to a cease-fire, according to Reuters.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency reported Saturday that the Syrian Foreign Ministry understood the decision to suspend the mission, adding that “armed terrorist groups” — the standard government label for any opposition — had escalated attacks since the United Nations plan was signed, according to the ministry.
The opposition, the ministry said, was “aided by Arab and international powers that are still providing the terrorists with up-to-date weapons and communication devices that help them in committing their crimes and sticking to their defiance of the U.N. plan.”
At least 22 civilians were killed in fighting on Saturday, according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, most in shelling near Damascus, Reuters reported. The observatory reported that at least 38 people were killed Friday. Opposition activists monitoring flash points around the country, including Homs, Aleppo and its surrounding province and the southern province of Dara’a, reported continued shelling of civilian neighborhoods by government forces, as large antigovernment demonstrations were held.
The opposition has repeatedly accused the government of assassinating or jailing medical personnel it suspects of giving care to anyone not supporting the government. The government has been silent about their cases.
On Saturday, the human rights group called on the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, to “immediately, and personally, intervene” to aid civilians in the city of Homs. The group said more than 1,000 families remained stranded in the area, under a constant threat of shelling, and needed to be evacuated immediately.
The group had previously appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Society to evacuate wounded people in critical condition from the city’s besieged neighborhoods, where activists said there were no medical personnel to help them.
In Dara’a Province, activists said Friday that two mortar shells fired by government forces at protesters gathering outside the Khaled bin al-Walid mosque, in the village of Busra al-Sham, had killed eight people and wounded many more, some seriously.
Videos said to have been taken soon after the mortars fell showed the corpses lined up in a mosque as well as damaged vehicles, shattered masonry and blood on the street.
The protest went ahead anyway, said Mohammad al-Harir, an activist reached by telephone. “The regime is carrying out big attacks across Dara’a to try to finish the peaceful demonstrations and the Free Syrian Army,” said Mr. Harir, referring to the coalition of local militias fighting the government. “But after a year and a half of demonstrations under the heavy crackdown, the people will not give up.”
A report by the official news agency, SANA blamed an unidentified “armed terrorist group”for detonating two bombs outside the mosque in Busra al-Sham. The Syrian government sharply limits the entry of foreign journalists and their ability to move around the country, preventing any independent assessment of the differing claims.
In Damascus, activists accused the government of trying to prevent demonstrations after Friday Prayer by deploying a heavy security force, closing numerous mosques and trying to scare people away by inventing a plot by Al Qaeda to blow up several mosques during prayers. The government presented a man, who by appearance could have been an adolescent, confessing to the plot on television.
In Istanbul, various opposition groups and independent activists began a two-day meeting sponsored by the Syrian National Council, the main opposition umbrella organization in exile, to try to resolve their differences.
There has been tepid international support for the council because of constant infighting, the gap between the opposition inside Syria and abroad, as well as the lack of a tangible plan for a transition away from 40 years of rule by the Assad family.
Matt Flegenheimer reported from New York and Neil MacFarquhar from Beirut, Lebanon.
