'Besieged' Homs endures tank assault

08/02/2012| IslamWeb

The Syrian military is reportedly moving deeper into residential areas in the city of Homs, a day after the Russian foreign minister said President Bashar al-Assad was "fully committed" to ending the bloodshed.

Activists said the army was firing rockets and mortar rounds to subdue opposition districts on Wednesday, as tanks entered the Inshaat neighborhood and moved closer to Bab Amr.

An activist in Bab Amr told Al Jazeera that the neighborhood had been under fire for four days.

The army is "shelling us, using rockets, using mortars, using Russian tanks," he said. "Tanks are trying to break into the neighborhood of Bab Amr."

Activist Hadi al-Abdallah said that at least 43 people were killed overnight in the central city.

 “Some areas are completely under siege. There is no internet, no landlines or mobile lines," he said.

Al-Abdallah said there had been no retaliation by the armed opposition because the government forces were shelling from positions several kilometers away.

Walid al-Bunni, a senior member of the opposition Syrian National Council, said Lavrov had brought no new initiative and that "so-called reforms" promised by Assad were not enough.

"The crimes that have been committed have left no room for Bashar al-Assad to remain ruler of Syria," he told Reuters news agency.

In the latest diplomatic developments, Gulf Arab states joined the US and several European countries in withdrawing their ambassadors from Damascus on Tuesday.

Announcing the decision to withdraw ambassadors from Damascus "immediately", the Gulf Co-operation Council said "the rising tide of killing and violence in Syria is showing no mercy towards women, children or the elderly".

The council simultaneously requested all Syrian ambassadors to leave its member states with immediate effect.

PHOTO CAPTION

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (4th R) meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (4th L) and his delegation in Damascus, February 7, 2012.

Al-Jazeera