UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is strongly criticizing Hezbollah for operating as the most heavily armed militia and a political party in Lebanon and is urging the militant group to halt military activities inside and outside the country, including in Syria.

Guterres also urged Lebanon's government and armed forces "to take all measures necessary to prohibit Hezbollah and other armed groups" from acquiring weapons and building "paramilitary capacity" outside state authority.

He said in a report to the Security Council obtained Monday by The Associated Press that Hezbollah's military activity violates a 2004 U.N. resolution ordering all Lebanese militias to disarm and the Taif Accords that ended the country's 1975-90 civil war.

The secretary-general called on countries with ties to Hezbollah to encourage its transformation into "a solely civilian political party."