The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said late on February 3 that the shelling of Homs, a center of unrest during nearly a year of violence in Syria, had killed 217 people and left hundreds wounded. The rights group said the Al-Khalidiya neighborhood was targeted by mortar fire.
Rami Abdulrahman, the head of the rights group, called it a “massacre” and said Syrian forces had been shelling the district from several locations. Of the 217 people killed since February 3, Abdulrahman said that 138 of them were in the Al-Khalidiya district.
Abdulrahman said some buildings were on fire and others had been totally destroyed. He described this latest outbreak of violence as “the worst attack of the uprising, since [it] began in March [2011].”
There was no way to independently confirm details of the reported attack and death toll in Homs.
International Protests
News of the situation in Homs triggered protests outside Syrian embassies in several countries. Some 20 protesters broke into the Syrian Embassy in Berlin destroying furniture and writing slogans on the walls before German police arrested them.
In Cairo, a crowd of Syrians stormed the Syrian embassy smashing furniture and starting fires in parts of the building. Hundreds of demonstrators later gathered outside a nearby police station demanding the release of six Syrians said to be held there. In London, five people were arrested after briefly entering the Syrian embassy.
The intense violence in Homs comes as the UN Security Council is preparing to vote on a resolution condemning the government crackdown in Syria. The council is due to vote 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
Source Article from http://www.rferl.org/content/syria_un_security_council_homs_russia/24473027.html
