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28 March 2024

Syrian forces pound Homs, tanks deploy in east

Published
By Reuters

Syrian forces renewed their bombardment of parts of the shattered city of Homs and for a second day blocked Red Cross aid meant for civilians stranded without food and fuel in the former rebel stronghold, activists and aid workers said.

Army tanks also deployed in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday to confront a growing rebel force there - setting up another possible flashpoint, opposition campaigners said.

The outside world has proved powerless to halt the killing in Syria, where repression of initially peaceful protests against Assad's rule has spawned an armed insurrection by army deserters and others.

Anti-government activists accused government troops of launching the renewed attack on Homs to punish people in the city, seen as a symbol of the year-long revolt, and arresting hundreds across the country.

"In an act of pure revenge, Assad's army has been firing mortar rounds and ... machine guns since this morning at Jobar," said the Syrian Network for Human Rights, referring to a district next to Baba Amro, where rebels had faced nearly a month of siege and shelling before fleeing on Thursday.

"We have no immediate reports of casualties because of the difficulty of communications," the campaign group said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier said he had received "grisly reports" troops were executing and torturing people in Homs after insurgents abandoned their positions.

Syria's government says it is fighting foreign-backed "terrorists" whom it blames for killing hundreds of soldiers and police across the country.

The United Nations says Syrian security forces have killed more than 7,500 civilians since the revolt against Assad's rule began in March last year.

Concern was mounting for civilians in freezing conditions in Baba Amro, where the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Assad's forces were holding up its trucks.

A Damascus-based ICRC spokesman said Syrian authorities had given the convoy permission to enter but government forces on the ground had stopped the trucks because of what they said were unsafe conditions, including "mines and booby traps".

Opposition sources said Syrian army tanks had started massing in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor to support pro-Assad forces there who had come under attack from Free Syrian Army rebels.

"Old Russian T-54 tanks and armoured vehicles have taken positions at main roundabouts. Every half an hour or so you hear gunfire by the Free Syrian Army directed at roadblocks manned by security police and 'shabbiha' (pro-Assad militia)," Abu Abdel Rahman, one of the activists, told Reuters from Deir al-Zor.

Controlling the Sunni Muslim city, 450 km (280 miles) northeast of Damascus, could pose another major challenge for Assad, a member of Syria's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Islam that has dominated Syria for the last five decades.