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Syrian forces attack Homs amid fears of new massacre | |
(40 minutes later) | |
Syrian government forces have renewed their attack on the city of Homs, one of the focal points of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. | Syrian government forces have renewed their attack on the city of Homs, one of the focal points of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. |
Video published on the internet purportedly from Homs showed intermittent shelling and black smoke. | |
UN mediator Kofi Annan is concerned civilians have been trapped in Homs and al-Haffa, a town in Latakia province also said to be under attack. | |
The US says it fears the government may be planning "another massacre". | |
Mr Annan's spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, said civilians had been trapped in both Homs and al-Haffa. | |
Mr Annan was demanding immediate entry to al-Haffa for UN military observers be allowed, he added. | |
As joint envoy for the UN and the Arab League, Mr Annan brokered a six-point peace plan, including a ceasefire which came into nominal effect two months ago but has now been virtually abandoned. | As joint envoy for the UN and the Arab League, Mr Annan brokered a six-point peace plan, including a ceasefire which came into nominal effect two months ago but has now been virtually abandoned. |
BBC Middle East bureau editor Paul Danahar, who visited Homs with a team of UN observers earlier on Monday, said the Syrian army appeared to be using an unmanned surveillance drone to select buildings as targets for shelling. | BBC Middle East bureau editor Paul Danahar, who visited Homs with a team of UN observers earlier on Monday, said the Syrian army appeared to be using an unmanned surveillance drone to select buildings as targets for shelling. |
Our correspondent reported a steady stream of mortar rounds landing in the old city of Homs at a rate of about one a minute. | Our correspondent reported a steady stream of mortar rounds landing in the old city of Homs at a rate of about one a minute. |
He says he understands that the UN team - which has been trying for two days to gain access to the old city - has still not succeeded. | He says he understands that the UN team - which has been trying for two days to gain access to the old city - has still not succeeded. |
All the UN can do is stand by and watch, our correspondent says. | All the UN can do is stand by and watch, our correspondent says. |
Helicopter attacks | |
US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said it was "deeply alarmed" at "reports from inside Syria that the regime may be organising another massacre". | |
Such an attack could happen, it suggested, in al-Haffa or the towns of Deir el-Zour, Homs or Hama, or in the suburbs of the capital, Damascus. | |
According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 74 people were killed across Syria on Monday. | According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 74 people were killed across Syria on Monday. |
An activist website, the Violations Documenting Centre, said there had been 29 deaths in the past week from bombardment in al-Haffa. All but three of the dead were civilians, it added. | |
These reports cannot be confirmed independently because Syria heavily restricts journalists' freedom of movement. | These reports cannot be confirmed independently because Syria heavily restricts journalists' freedom of movement. |
British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the violence in Syria, accusing the government of "inflaming sectarian tension". | |
The Syrian government blames the violence on foreign-backed armed terrorist gangs. | The Syrian government blames the violence on foreign-backed armed terrorist gangs. |
Separately, UN monitors and human rights activists said Syrian government forces had used helicopters to bombard the town of Rastan, in Homs province. | |
The town has been under intermittent army shelling "for months", the Observatory said. | |
UN spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh said monitors had seen Syrian helicopters firing on Rastan and another rebel stronghold, Talbisa. | |
In Talbisa, rebels from the Free Syrian Army captured soldiers from government forces, she added. | |