At Least 69 Killed as Syrian Regime Pounds Protest Hubs
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Syrian forces rained rockets and shells down on protest hubs on Monday, activists said, as another 66 civilians died in the regime's crackdown on dissent.
The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) said the regime was surrounding Homs with tanks ahead of "a major offensive" and warned of a "genocide" in the central Syrian city.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 42 civilians were killed in Homs alone, and warned that the death toll was likely to rise because many of the dozens of wounded were in critical condition.
State media reported the deaths of three soldiers and said a "terrorist group" blew up an oil pipeline in Homs.
The army also launched an assault on the Zabadani area near Damascus with heavy tank shelling, killing at least three people, said the Britain-based Observatory.
It also reported civilian deaths in Rastan, Houla and Qusair, all towns in Homs province, as well at Sarghaya, near Damascus, in the northern city of Aleppo and in Idlib, northwest Syria.
A resident of Homs told Agence France Presse the latest assault began shortly after 0400 GMT, with unprecedented barrages of rockets, mortar rounds and artillery shells.
"What is happening is horrible, it's beyond belief," said activist Omar Shaker, reached by telephone as loud detonations were heard in the background.
"There is nowhere to take shelter, nowhere to hide," he said. "We are running short of medical supplies and we are only able to provide basic treatment to the injured."
One video posted on YouTube apparently showed a field hospital hit by shelling in the Baba Amro district and wounded patients lying on stretchers on the floor amid pools of blood and shattered glass.
Footage shot by a BBC undercover team in Homs showed buildings ablaze in rebel neighborhoods as regime forces pounded them with heavy weapons. Plumes of white smoke billowed into the sky.
Damascus blamed the bloodshed in Homs on "terrorist gangs" using mortars.
The violence comes as Western powers seek new ways to punish Damascus amid growing outrage over the veto by Russia and China of a U.N. resolution condemning Syria for its deadly crackdown on nearly 11 months of protest.
Saturday's double veto handed President Bashar al-Assad's regime a "license to kill," the SNC said.
An estimated 6,000 people have died in the bloodshed, according to rights groups.
Damascus does not recognize the scale of the protest movement that erupted in mid-March, insisting it is fighting "terrorist groups" seeking to sow chaos as part of a foreign-hatched conspiracy.
06 February 2012, 15:09
12
Didn't Aoun proclaim that the Syrian crisis will be over by next Tuesday? Some 5 months ago? Just asking.
06 February 2012, 18:10
02
Maybe. But then he definitely is no match to the one who, on a daily basis, breaks his own record of false predictions, Dr. Kherfen Wmouderyen, a practice he has been at since Dr. Mouderyen threw himself in the arms of the Syrians at the height of their occupation. Look him up in the Guinness Book of World Records. It is available in Braille.
06 February 2012, 16:10
21
the filthy zionist media terrorists are hallucinating about syrian civil war "growing and prospering".
also, they spit on aoun because of wrong prediction, but they keep predicting the fall of assad that still didn't happen.
06 February 2012, 17:06
20
I beg to differ with Naharnet and its likes on the count. I personally counted 83 dead, and they were distributed as follows: 23 men, 48 women and 12 children.
06 February 2012, 21:02
11
What are "raining down" are the exaggerations from AFP.
But there could also be some Libyan volunteers who are firing their Grad missiles off their pick-up trucks with the aid of Al Jazeera social media.
06 February 2012, 21:33
10
i pity those denying a people s right to get rid of tyranny... courageous behind their keyboard giving them the impression of being men... not a single pity for innocent people killed by the terrorist regime!
no wonder coming from people licking the boots of this regime and thanking them for all thhe bad deeds they did to lebanon...their leaders benefit from this regime so of course they try and defend them...
still lowering their pants ...
07 February 2012, 00:20
00
oh poor flame! you know the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth!!!i envy you really... good for you boy
the majority of syrians are fed up with this tyranny. that s a fact. the only ones to want it in place are the ones who benefit from it... a minority ! and you of course...
i assume you d agree that the lebanese army bomb saida or tripoli killing 6000 lebanese only because they are peacefully demonstrating , right?
oh and other powers as you say took time to decide who to side with proving that they are not at the root of this conflict as el manar tells you, think a bit if you can! it took them months to raise their voices!
it all began peacefully, and your best friends in syria shot at peaceful demonstrators! of course now they are getting armed, and more and more soldiers deserting in front of this butchery!
07 February 2012, 00:28
00
but i guess you are thanking bashar again for killing its own people like you d wish hezbolla do to all those against M8...
the only one gullible here is you my poor boy, if the USA or other countries wanted bashar to be ousted they would have done it already, but your israeli friends prefer him to stay in power....for now.
they are just waiting to have a credible opposition to take over the power, that s why they havent done a thing, which proves that the syrian revolution is from within and not from outside like you claim!!
but keep on your propaganda, i will enjoy more the day your beloved regime collapse!
all M8 said that bashar has no problems so why are you afraid?
