U.N. demands civilian evacuation

BEIRUT — The head of the U.N. observers’ mission in Syria demanded Sunday that warring parties allow the evacuation of women, children, elderly and sick people endangered by the fighting in the besieged central city of Homs and other combat zones.

Maj. Gen. Robert Mood said the observers had been trying for the past week to extract civilians and the wounded from Homs but had failed because neither government troops nor the rebels were willing to hold their fire.

“The parties must reconsider their position and allow women, children, the elderly and the injured to leave conflict zones without any preconditions and ensure their safety,” Mood said in a statement. U.N. “attempts to extract civilians from the line of fire over the past week have been unsuccessful,“he added.

“This requires willingness on both sides to respect and protect the human life of the Syrian people,” Mood said.

U.N. observers have been trying for the past week to clear out more than 1,000 families and dozens of wounded people trapped in Homs by the heavy shelling of rebelheld areas.

The offensive is part of a broader push by regime forces to regain rebel-held villages and towns throughout the country.

“The humanitarian situation in Homs is very difficult,” said Rami Abdul- Rahman, who heads the British-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “It is very clear that the army wants to retake Homs.”

The Observatory asked the U.N. on Saturday to intervene in Homs to evacuate hundreds of men, women and children whose lives are in danger. It also said dozens of wounded people in rebelcontrolled areas of the central city cannot get medicine or doctors to treat them.

On Saturday, the U.N. said the 300 observers based in Syria were suspending all missions because of concerns for their safety as fighting becomes more intense. But the monitors said they were remaining in Syria in the capital, Damascus. The decision came after weeks of escalating attacks, including reports of several mass killings that left dozens dead.

A U.N. official said earlier Sunday that a team of observers had left Damascus for Homs, hoping to evacuate civilians. The plan was not made public for fear that would compromise the mission. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The official said the plan was to arrange a cease-fire of up to 90 minutes during which the civilians could be evacuated from rebel-held areas of Homs through a safe corridor. He said the mission was approved by the Syrian government.

The evacuation was to be the first such operation in Homs since February when teams of the Syrian Red Crescent Society entered the tense, rebel-held neighborhood of Baba Amr and brought out wounded and civilians.

Baba Amr was retaken by Syrian troops in early March after weeks of intensive shelling and repeated ground attacks.

Opposition groups say more than 14,000 civilians and rebels have been killed since the uprising in the country began in March 2011.

The Observatory has said more than 3,400 soldiers and militiamen loyal to the government also have been killed.

On Sunday, the Observatory said 27 civilians and rebel fighters were killed along with more than a dozen soldiers around the country. Another group, the Local Coordination Committee, said more than 50 people were killed — the group does not count soldiers’ deaths. Both groups said most people were killed in shelling in Homs province and in towns around Damascus. Information for this article was contributed by Bassem Mroue of The Associated Press.