Activists: Dozens dead as Syria launches 'large-scale military assault' on civilians

Homs hit by 'very fierce' bombardment that is feared could be prelude to a ground assault

msnbc.com news services
updated 7 minutes ago

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.

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. At least two of those killed in Homs were children, activists said.

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

Activist accounts of the violence could not be confirmed. The government bars most foreign journalists from Syria.

BBC News reported that opposition groups had noticed that the military was building up its strength near Homs, apparently to prepare for a ground assault that human rights activists fear could become a massacre.

"I'm trying to leave the area because of the gunfire and heavy shelling, which has rocked the city," an activist hiding near the Baba Amr area of Homs, identified only as Omar, told the BBC. "This is a large-scale military assault on defenseless civilians."

Meanwhile the International Committee of the Red 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 ICRC staff and Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers have enough time to deliver aid and evacuate the wounded and the sick," ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger said.

Shells fall 'each minute'
Activists said government forces launched the artillery attack on Homs after rebel fighters holding the opposition Baba Amr district blocked troops from entering.

"Several shells are falling each minute," activist Nader al-Husseini told Reuters from the district, adding that two children were among the victims.

Another activist said 21 bodies had been found, many dug out from under the rubble. "Others are still buried. Today the shelling is very fierce," he said.

Activists: Dozens killed as Syria targets civilians - World news - Mideast/N. Africa - msnbc.com