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| Dozens Are Killed in Syrian Violence, Even as Peace Talks Approach | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BEIRUT, Lebanon — At least 25 people were killed in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, antigovernment activists reported, in the eighth straight day of intense government bombardment of rebel-held areas there, while a suicide car bombing that the state news media blamed on insurgents killed at least 10 people in the central province of Homs. | BEIRUT, Lebanon — At least 25 people were killed in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, antigovernment activists reported, in the eighth straight day of intense government bombardment of rebel-held areas there, while a suicide car bombing that the state news media blamed on insurgents killed at least 10 people in the central province of Homs. |
| Even as preparations are being made for internationally sponsored peace talks scheduled for late January, violence in Syria appears, if anything, to have escalated in recent weeks. Rebel and government groups have each been accused of massacring civilians, and the government has stepped up air attacks on Aleppo with barrages of improvised “barrel bombs” packed with high explosives that activists say have killed more than 200 people. | Even as preparations are being made for internationally sponsored peace talks scheduled for late January, violence in Syria appears, if anything, to have escalated in recent weeks. Rebel and government groups have each been accused of massacring civilians, and the government has stepped up air attacks on Aleppo with barrages of improvised “barrel bombs” packed with high explosives that activists say have killed more than 200 people. |
| Video from Aleppo posted by activists showed a red fireball over a neighborhood, body parts and people digging frantically through the rubble as sirens wailed in the background. An antigovernment group, the Aleppo Media Center, put the death toll at 32, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the conflict through a network of contacts in Syria, said it was 25, with others in critical condition. | Video from Aleppo posted by activists showed a red fireball over a neighborhood, body parts and people digging frantically through the rubble as sirens wailed in the background. An antigovernment group, the Aleppo Media Center, put the death toll at 32, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the conflict through a network of contacts in Syria, said it was 25, with others in critical condition. |
| The government has said it is targeting “terrorist” insurgents in Aleppo, while residents and activists have said that, in recent days, the bombings have mainly killed civilians in some of the fiercest attacks there in months. | The government has said it is targeting “terrorist” insurgents in Aleppo, while residents and activists have said that, in recent days, the bombings have mainly killed civilians in some of the fiercest attacks there in months. |
| In Homs, the state news media and antigovernment activists said the bombing struck near a primary school in a village. Syrian state news media said five schoolchildren and five other people were killed there. The Syrian Observatory put the toll at 12 and said the bombing was aimed at a school where displaced Shiite Muslims had been staying. | In Homs, the state news media and antigovernment activists said the bombing struck near a primary school in a village. Syrian state news media said five schoolchildren and five other people were killed there. The Syrian Observatory put the toll at 12 and said the bombing was aimed at a school where displaced Shiite Muslims had been staying. |
| As a conflict that began with demands for political rights takes on a more sectarian tone, many insurgent groups have ratcheted up anti-Shiite statements, equating Syria’s tiny Shiite minority with Shiite powers like Iran and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which support the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. | As a conflict that began with demands for political rights takes on a more sectarian tone, many insurgent groups have ratcheted up anti-Shiite statements, equating Syria’s tiny Shiite minority with Shiite powers like Iran and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which support the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. |
| The International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday that a half-million people had been wounded in the Syrian civil war and that tens of thousands had been detained. In one of those cases, the British government is demanding that the Syrian government explain the death of Dr. Abbas Khan, a British citizen who was arrested a year ago while providing medical care in rebel-held areas and was found dead in his interrogation cell days before he was expected to be released. | The International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday that a half-million people had been wounded in the Syrian civil war and that tens of thousands had been detained. In one of those cases, the British government is demanding that the Syrian government explain the death of Dr. Abbas Khan, a British citizen who was arrested a year ago while providing medical care in rebel-held areas and was found dead in his interrogation cell days before he was expected to be released. |
| The peace talks are scheduled to start Jan. 22 in Switzerland, but the government appears to be pressing its hand militarily as the opposition seems more divided than ever. The war has killed more than 120,000 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and the United Nations said that nearly nine million people, more than a third of the country’s population, had been driven from their homes. | The peace talks are scheduled to start Jan. 22 in Switzerland, but the government appears to be pressing its hand militarily as the opposition seems more divided than ever. The war has killed more than 120,000 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and the United Nations said that nearly nine million people, more than a third of the country’s population, had been driven from their homes. |
| The bombing of Aleppo has renewed calls from Mr. Assad’s opponents for international powers to impose a no-fly zone in Syria, a proposal that has been a nonstarter, in part, because Russia has blocked the move after a similar United Nations-endorsed measure in Libya in 2011 evolved into attacks on the government there. | The bombing of Aleppo has renewed calls from Mr. Assad’s opponents for international powers to impose a no-fly zone in Syria, a proposal that has been a nonstarter, in part, because Russia has blocked the move after a similar United Nations-endorsed measure in Libya in 2011 evolved into attacks on the government there. |
| The main Syrian exile opposition group, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, on Sunday issued a statement saying, “A no-fly zone, backed by the Western powers, is the only means to prevent the Assad regime from slaughtering the Syrian people.” The group said that global powers had a responsibility to prevent the international deal to dismantle Syria’s chemical weapons — reached in the fall after the United States threatened to strike the government after accusing it of using chemical weaopns — “from offering Assad a license to kill.” | The main Syrian exile opposition group, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, on Sunday issued a statement saying, “A no-fly zone, backed by the Western powers, is the only means to prevent the Assad regime from slaughtering the Syrian people.” The group said that global powers had a responsibility to prevent the international deal to dismantle Syria’s chemical weapons — reached in the fall after the United States threatened to strike the government after accusing it of using chemical weaopns — “from offering Assad a license to kill.” |
| “The attacks today targeted marketplaces, schools where displaced families had taken refuge, and apartment buildings,” the statement said. “The regime continues to use the pretext of countering ‘terrorists,’ while employing weapons of mass slaughter.” | “The attacks today targeted marketplaces, schools where displaced families had taken refuge, and apartment buildings,” the statement said. “The regime continues to use the pretext of countering ‘terrorists,’ while employing weapons of mass slaughter.” |
Mohammad Ghannam contributed reporting. | Mohammad Ghannam contributed reporting. |