UNITED NATIONS - The situation in Syria is "getting worse" as violence was intensified by both sides of the fighting in the unrest-ridden country, the chief UN observer in Syria told reporters here Tuesday, urging the international community to double its efforts to stem the violence in the Middle East country.
"The suffering of men, women and children in Syria, some of them trapped by fighting, is getting worse," Major General Robert Mood, head of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), said after briefing the UN Security Council on the latest development in Syria. "It should be a focus of the efforts of the (Syrian) parties, and it should be a focus of the efforts of this Council."
Herve Ladsous, UN under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, and Mood met the press here after giving an update on the latest developments and work of the UNSMIS.
During his briefing to the 15-nation Council, Mood conveyed " the suffering of the Syrian people" to the Security Council.
The 16-month violence in Syria continued unabated on Tuesday across the country, a snub to all political efforts aiming to solve the crisis politically at a time when the Security Council is holding consultations on Syria to assess the situation after the suspension of operations by the UN Supervision Mission.
The violence rate has notably increased over the past month across Syria with armed rebels and government troops clashing on daily bases, dealing a blow to the six-point peace plan brokered by Kofi Annan, the joint special envoy of the UN and Arab League for Syria crisis.
Both the government and the opposition trade barbs over who is responsible for the unrelenting violence.
The briefing took place three days after Mood announced that UN observers had suspended their monitoring activities due to an intensification of armed violence across the country in recent days.
On Sunday, Mood, who is from Norway, appealed to the parties involved to enable civilians trapped by the escalating violence to leave conflict zones.
Speaking to reporters after the briefing Tuesday at the Security Council, Ladsous pledged that the UNSMIS will stay in Syria.
UNSMIS was set up by the Security Council in April to monitor the cessation of violence in Syria, as well as monitoring and supporting the full implementation of a six-point peace plan put forward by Annan.
The plan calls for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, the start of inclusive political dialogue that takes into account the aspirations of the Syrian people, and unrestricted access to the country for international media.
According to UN estimates, more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria and tens of thousands displaced since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad started in March 2011.