Crowds in a Syrian town surrounded by government troops cheered Arab League monitors who visited Sunday as others fled the town on foot to escape the fighting inside . Residents of Zabadani , about 50 km ( 30 miles ) northwest of Damascus , lifted one of the monitors onto their shoulders and passed him around the crowd during Sunday 's visit . They told CNN that their water and electricity had been cut off for the past three days , and they showed off wounds they said had been inflicted by pro-government forces . The monitors got a different reception from Syrian soldiers , who berated them as the soldiers carried off the body of one of their comrades they said had been shot by opposition forces . The visit came as another 32 people were killed by government troops trying to crush a 10-month-old uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad , according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria , an opposition umbrella group . The toll included 13 in Homs , the scene of some of the worst fighting to date ; 10 in the city of Idlib ; and three people , inlcuding a child , in Hama . During a visit to neighboring Lebanon , U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered a blunt message to al-Assad : `` Stop killing your people . '' Meanwhile , al-Assad announced that he was granting amnesty to anti-government demonstrators for `` all crimes committed '' since the uprising began last March , Syrian state-run media reported . In Zabadani , a CNN crew heading into the city with the Arab League monitors saw men , women and children trudging out of the city to get away from the fighting . When the monitors prepared to leave , many of the thousands who greeted the monitors in town urged them to stay , warning that attacks by government troops would resume once they left . Some offered to show the monitors where Syrian tanks were hidden in the fields surrounding the city . Syria was required to pull heavy weaponry out of the cities under the agreement its signed with the Arab League in November , but Zabadani residents said the tanks pulled back only when the monitors were on their way . Fares Mohammed , an LCC spokesman , said about 100 armored vehicles had surrounded the city for three days , and that power and water had been cut off as the city faced sub-freezing temperatures . A member of the Free Syria Army -- composed mostly of deserters who are siding with the opposition -- said there were about 70 lightly armed fighters in the city . The fighter asked not to be named for security reasons . `` The situation is very bad . The siege is choking us , and even air is running out , '' the fighter said , adding that fighters were setting up roadblocks to try to keep government forces out of residential areas . On their way out of town , the monitors were held up at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Zabadani for about an hour and a half as occasional bullets whizzed by . During that time , Syrian troops carried off the body of a fellow soldier who had just been shot and turned their anger on the monitors . `` Is this what you want ? '' one asked . `` Is this what the world wants ? Is this a free Syria ? '' More gunfire erupted as the monitors left town , and a soldier at another checkpoint rushed out to hammer at their vehicle . More than 5,000 people have died since mid-March , the United Nations has said . Opposition groups put the toll at more than 6,000 . Al-Assad , who has characterized the anti-government protesters as `` armed gangs , '' says his security forces are battling terrorists intent on targeting civilians and fomenting unrest . His latest amnesty decree follows the recent release of 5,000 prisoners by the Syrian government under its agreement with the Arab League . It grants grants general amnesty for crimes committed between March 15 , 2011 , and January 15 , 2012 , according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency . The decree applies to people who engaged in peaceful demonstrations , carried or possesses unlicensed weapons or ammunition and draft evaders , SANA said . Fugitives must hand themselves in by the end of the month to benefit from the amnesty , the agency reported . It is the second time al-Assad has granted a general amnesty to protesters , who have been calling for an end to the regime . But reports of carnage mount every day , despite the presence of Arab League observers in the country and international calls for a halt to the crackdown . `` Today , I say again to President Assad of Syria : Stop the violence . Stop killing your people , '' Ban said at a conference on political reform and democracy in Beirut . `` The path of repression is a dead end . '' CNN can not verify accounts of what is happening in Syria because the government restricts the activity of journalists . A number of journalists have been allowed in to the country in recent days , including a CNN correspondent , to travel with Arab League monitors . The Arab League mission began December 26 and is expected to conclude on January 19 . It has been mired in controversy from the start , from the choice to head the mission -- Lt. Gen. Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi , once the head of Sudan 's military intelligence -- to reports that the Syrian government was limiting the group 's access .
32 reported killed in the latest attacks . Arab League monitors cheered in the town of Zabadani . Ban Ki-moon calls on Bashar al-Assad to `` Stop the violence . Stop killing your people '' State media : Al-Assad grants amnesty to all crimes committed by anti-government protesters .