EU sanctions more entities against Syria

The European Union (EU) Tuesday expanded sanctions against Syria over the government's "violent repression" of its civilian population.

According to the Council of European Union statement, the EU's foreign ministers agreed to add three more people and nine entities to the current sanction list, Xinhua reported.

They will be subject to an asset freeze and a ban on entering the EU, the statement said.

"The entities were targeted due to their involvement in the violent repression of the civilian population or their support to the regime," the statement said.

The move brings the total of persons under EU restrictive measures to 192 and the number of entities to 62.

The sanction will come into force from Wednesday.

Earlier June 24, the EU had imposed an asset freeze and travel ban on 12 Syrian government ministers.

The EU has long called for President Assad to step down and a transition government to be set up that could end a conflict that has left more than a hundred thousand people dead in the last three years.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution in September last year to rid the war-torn Middle East country of its chemical weapons.

Under the resolution, the OPCW was mandated to oversee the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons materials.