Annan leaves Syria; more violence reported Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (C) meets local supporters during a tour in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA on March 27, 2012. DAMASCUS, Syria, May 30 (UPI) -- Government forces battled Syrian rebels Wednesday in Damascus as a U.N.-led peace plan appeared to further deteriorate, witness said. Violence was also reported in the Damascus countryside, Aleppo and Hama. Opposition leaders said at least 10 people were killed, including five in Douma, CNN reported. Shelling destroyed homes in Homs, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based opposition group, which also said shelling was reported in the cities of Douma, Haish and Kafromah. U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan left Syrian Wednesday after meeting President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus Tuesday, Voice of America said. A U.N. official said Annan left without securing any major steps from the Syrian government to implement his faltering peace plan. During his meetings, Annan renewed an appeal to the Assad regime to end the violence against its people. Annan said he expressed the international community's concerns about the government attacks, including last week's slaughter in Houla that left more than 100 people dead, including many children. "We are at a tipping point," Annan said. The Syrian people do not want the future to be one of bloodshed and division. Yet the killings continue and the abuses are still with us today. Eleven nations, including the United States, said they are expelling Syrian envoys in a coordinated action over the killings. Besides the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria and Canada announced that they are expelling some Syrian diplomats. Annan said he urged the opposition to cease violence and called on al-Assad to implement "bold steps now -- not tomorrow, now -- to create momentum for the implementation" of a six-point peace plan that includes a cease-fire. In another development, Russia and China repeated their opposition to military intervention in Syria, a day after French President Francois Hollande said he wouldn't dismiss such action if the U.N. Security Council approves it, VOA reported. Assad has maintained the attacks were the work of "terrorist groups," Syrian state-run TV reported. However, residents in Houla said Syrian regime forces terrorized the suburb of Homs, an anti-government hotbed. A U.N. human rights official said the majority of victims appeared to have been executed. The United Nations said more than 9,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands of people have been displaced since anti-government protests began in March 2011. Opposition groups report a death toll of more than 11,000 people. The nations that expelled Syrian envoys plan to push for tougher sanctions, British officials said, as the U.N. Security Council was to meet on the Syrian crisis. The European Union was separately considering "a further tightening of sanctions on Syria," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said. Also, Syrian teams signed up for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London in July and August, could be banned, Hague said Tuesday. Syrian Olympic Committee Chairman Mowaffak Jomahas said Britain had no right to ban Syrian athletes, but Hague said it would "be up to us who comes into the United Kingdom." While fresh U.N. sanctions will be pursued, military intervention in Syria is not being considered, Hague said. "There is no support, no unanimity, about any intervention in the U.N. Security Council," he said in remarks cited by the Los Angeles Times. All our efforts are going to support the Annan plan and to try to bring about a peaceful transition.