Syrian forces bombard protest hubs
DAMASCUS, Feb 6 (AFP)Syrian forces Monday pounded powderkeg Homs with rockets and mortars and shelled another protest hub, activists said, as outrage grew over a RussiaChina veto of a UN resolution to stop the violence.
The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) said the regime had encircled the central city of Homs with tanks ahead of “a major offensive,” and urged the international community to act quickly to prevent a new massacre.the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 17 people were killed in Homs, but added that the death toll was likely to rise as many of the dozens wounded had sustained critical injuries.
It said Syrian forces on Monday also launched an assault on the town of Zabadani, near the capital Damascus, killing at least one person.“troops backed by hundreds of armoured vehicles have launched an assault on the town of Zabadani... which is undergoing heavy tank shelling,” the Britain-based group said.syria's authorities blamed Monday's unrest in Homs on “terrorist gangs” which it said were targeting several neighbourhoods with mortars.
The official SANA news agency also reported that a “terrorist group” blew up an oil pipeline on Monday in Homs.a resident of the battered city told AFP that Monday's assault began shortly after 6:00 am (0400 GMT), with government troops firing off relentless barrages of rockets, mortar rounds and artillery shells.“what is happening is horrible, it's beyond belief,” said Omar Shaker, an activist reached by telephone. The sound of gunfire and loud explosions could be heard in the background as he spoke. “There is a large number of martyrs,” he said.
Shaker said activists were transporting the wounded to the city's mosques.“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.”the new raids, which were concentrated in the neighbourhoods of Khaldiyeh, Baba Amro, Inshaat and Bab Sbaa, followed what activists said was a “massacre” in the city overnight on Friday and a weekend of further shelling.a video posted by activists on Youtube apparently showed a field hospital hit by the shelling in Baba Amro, one of the main targets of Monday's assault.