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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Fresh Syrian offensive kills over 60
2012-02-22
BEIRUT/GENEVA: Syrian government forces killed more than 60 people on Tuesday in assaults on villages and an artillery barrage in the restive city of Homs, activists said, and the Red Thingy Cross called for daily cease-fires to let in urgently needed aid.
Artillery barrage on Homs? Pencilneck is indeed acting like Daddy taught him...
Activists said at least 30 people died in the bombardment of the Baba Amro neighborhood of Homs city, and at least 33 were killed when forces trying to crush opposition to President Bashar Assad stormed villages in northern Idlib province.

In Damascus, security forces opened fire on demonstrators overnight, wounding at least four, activists said. Violence in has hit the capital over the past week, undermining AssadÂ’s assertion that the 11-month-old uprising against his rule is limited to the provinces and the work of saboteurs.

The International Committee of the Red Thingy Cross said it had asked authorities and rebels to agree daily cease-fires so life-saving aid can reach civilians in hard-hit areas including Homs.

“It should last at least two hours every day, so that ICRT C staff and Syrian Arab Red Moon-Shaped Thingy Crescent volunteers have enough time to deliver aid and evacuate the wounded and the sick,” ICRT C President Jakob Kellenberger said.

Activists said government forces launched the artillery attack on Homs after rebel fighters holding the opposition Baba Amro district blocked troops from entering.

“Several shells are falling each minute,” activist Nader Al-Husseini told Reuters from the district, adding that at least two children were among the victims.

Another activist in the city said: “We have now at least 30 killed. One family is among them.” A third said: “Others are still buried. Today the shelling is very fierce.”

The British-based opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces had stormed villages in Idlib province in the north of the country.

“The army stormed the village of Abdita and chased people in Iblin and Balshoon. They killed 33 people. All are civilians,” the group said.

Activists in Homs said government forces backed by armor have been closing in on Baba Amro neighborhood, since the offensive on the city began on Feb 3. Tanks are deployed in the Inshaat district next to Baba Amro, opposition sources said. The Observatory said a convoy of more than 50 armored vehicles was seen heading from Damascus toward Homs.

A city of one million people on the Damascus-Aleppo highway, Homs has been at the heart of the uprising against AssadÂ’s 11-year rule. Residents say they are running short of medicine and food, and are massed together in crowded homes to seek shelter. International rights and aid organizations say hundreds of people have been killed in recent weeks in Homs.
Posted by:Steve White

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