The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said late February 3, shelling of Homs, a center of unrest during nearly a year of violence in Syria, killed 217 people and left hundreds wounded.
The rights group said the Al Khalidiya neighborhood was targeted by mortar fire. Head of the rights organization Rami Abdulrahman called it a “massacre” and said Syrian forces were shelling the district from several locations. He said of the 217 people killed since February 3, 138 of them were in the Al Khalidiya district.
Abdulrahman said some buildings were on fire and others had been totally destroyed and described this latest outbreak of violence as “the worst attack of the uprising, since the uprising began in March (2011) until now.”
There was no way to independently confirm information about the situation in Homs.
The intense violence in Homs comes as the UN Security Council prepares to vote on a resolution condemning the government crack down in Syria. The council is due to vote on the resolution on the morning of February 4 after days of talks on the wording of the document. The text, drafted by European and Arab countries, does not explicitly call on President Bashar al-Assad to step down or mention an arms embargo or sanctions, but calls on the Security Council to “fully support” an Arab League plan to facilitate a democratic transition.
Russia, a permanent member of the council, has already indicated it will oppose the resolution despite changes to the draft. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on February 3 his country “cannot support” the resolution as it reads, even with the changes to remove demands that President Assad step down. It is not clear whether the comments meant that Russia, which holds a permanent seat on the Security Council, would veto the resolution or abstain from voting.
The violence in Syria on February 3 came as thousands of people across the country defied the government crackdown to commemorate a 1982 massacre in the central city of Hama in which thousands were killed.
In early January, the United Nations estimated that more than 5,000 people have been killed in the crackdown on dissent since mass protests against Assad’s regime began.
compiled from agency reports
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