Beirut: Syrian troops pounded opposition areas, activists said, killing 74 civilians in an offensive that has sent thousands of refugees surging into Turkey before next week’s UN-backed ceasefire aimed at staunching a year of bloodshed.
At least 15 rebels and 17 security force members were also killed, raising the death toll in violence to over 100.
Each side has accused the other of intensifying assaults in the run-up to the truce due to take effect early on Thursday if government forces begin pulling back from towns 48 hours earlier in accordance with UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.
The military shelled Deir Baalba district in Homs, killing four people, the grassroots Local Coordination Committees opposition group said. Thirteen men were also found killed in cold blood in the same area.
Amateur activist video showed scenes of carnage said to be the aftermath of the shelling. Mangled limbs and body parts in blankets were being loaded on a pickup truck.
No comment was immediately available from Syrian officials. The videos could not be verified.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 74 civilians had been killed, including 40 in an army attack on al-Latmana, in Hama province, that began on Friday. The rebel Free Syrian Army lost 15 men, it said, and 17 members of the security forces were killed across the country.
Rebels trying to oust president Bashar al-Assad attacked army posts north of Aleppo before dawn, killing an officer and two men, and assaulted a helicopter base, activists said. Syrian commandos shot dead three rebels in an overnight raid on a “terrorist den”, Syria’s SANA agency reported. AP
At least 15 rebels and 17 security force members were also killed, raising the death toll in violence to over 100.
Each side has accused the other of intensifying assaults in the run-up to the truce due to take effect early on Thursday if government forces begin pulling back from towns 48 hours earlier in accordance with UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.
The military shelled Deir Baalba district in Homs, killing four people, the grassroots Local Coordination Committees opposition group said. Thirteen men were also found killed in cold blood in the same area.
Amateur activist video showed scenes of carnage said to be the aftermath of the shelling. Mangled limbs and body parts in blankets were being loaded on a pickup truck.
No comment was immediately available from Syrian officials. The videos could not be verified.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 74 civilians had been killed, including 40 in an army attack on al-Latmana, in Hama province, that began on Friday. The rebel Free Syrian Army lost 15 men, it said, and 17 members of the security forces were killed across the country.
Rebels trying to oust president Bashar al-Assad attacked army posts north of Aleppo before dawn, killing an officer and two men, and assaulted a helicopter base, activists said. Syrian commandos shot dead three rebels in an overnight raid on a “terrorist den”, Syria’s SANA agency reported. AP
No comments:
Post a Comment