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UNITED NATIONS - A senior U.N. official says U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council that U.N. patrols in Syria are being deliberately targeted with heavy weapons and armor-piercing ammunition.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because Thursday's council meeting was private, said Ban also reported repeated instances of firing close to U.N. patrols, apparently to force them to withdraw.

The official said Ban listed several incidents, including one in a town near Homs, where a heavy weapon round landed 150 meters (yards) from a patrol that was going to meet an opposition contact. Later, the patrol noted a surveillance drone overhead.

Ban also told the council that on June 3, an unoccupied U.N. vehicle near Kafr Zeta was hit with armor-piercing ammunition.