Blasts in Central Syria City of Homs Kill 25
Two car bombs exploded Wednesday in a government-held district of
Syria's battleground city of Homs, killing at least 25 people and
wounding more than 100, state media said.
The blasts hit a commercial street inhabited mostly by members of
President Bashar Assad's minority Alawite sect in the central city,
where government forces have been imposing a heavy siege on
rebel-controlled districts.
Syria's uprising, which began with largely peaceful protests against
Assad's rule in March 2011, has since evolved into a civil war with
sectarian overtones, pitting predominantly Sunni Muslim rebels against
an Assad government that is dominated by Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite
Islam.
Homs, a city of about 1 million, has shown great sympathy for the
opposition since the early days of the uprising. The city was once known
as "the capital of the Syrian revolution" before government forces
captured large parts of once rebel-held neighborhoods such as Baba Amr
and Khaldiyeh.
State news agency SANA said one car blew up near a sweets shop in a busy
street and about half an hour later another car exploded about 100
meters (yards) away "in order to inflict the biggest numbers of
casualties among citizens."
SANA said the wounded included its photographer in Homs, Syria's
third-largest city, adding that the blasts went off in the Karm el-Loz
neighborhood. It said the explosion that struck a busy street also
wounded 107 people.
It said the dead and wounded in the explosions included women and children.
Syrian TV showed several shops and cars on fire. Bloodied people could be seen being carried on stretchers into ambulances.
"As ambulances and fire engines were working in the first site, the
second blast went off, increasing the number of casualties," a witness
in the city told The Associated Press. The man, who asked that his name
not be given for fear of reprisals, said he counted eight bodies of
people killed in the second blast.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blasts
killed 21 people including children. It added that the number "is
expected to rise" because some of the wounded are in critical
conditions.
The Observatory said the dead might have included some pro-government gunmen.
On March 27, a blast occurred in an Alawite neighborhood in the city, killing and wounding dozens of people.
The blasts in Homs came hours after Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah
fighters captured the last major town in the Qalamoun region near the
border with Lebanon after weeks of intense fighting.
Syrian TV and Lebanon's Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar station said the town
of Rankous fell earlier Wednesday, depriving the rebels their last major
base in the rugged area.
President Bashar Assad's forces backed by Hezbollah fighters have been
on the offensive in the Qalamoun region since November when they
captured most of the border area with Lebanon. The six-month battle
forced tens of thousands of Syrians to flee to safety in Lebanon.
The capture of Rankous and other towns and villages has cut a major
supply route for weapons and fighters into the country from eastern
Lebanon.
Syrian TV aired live footage from inside Rankous on Wednesday saying
that the operation to capture the town lasted 18 hours. Much of the
homes appeared intact in the town's center, overlooked by a mosque with a
green dome atop a hill.
"Rankous returns to the nation and is under the control of the Syrian Arab Army," a TV announcer said.
The Observatory reported that troops and Hezbollah fighters are in full
control of the town. It added that the fighting is continuing in a
nearby area known as Rankous Farms.
Also Wednesday, the U.N. refugee agency said it had delivered aid to a
rebel-held area of the war-shattered northern city of Aleppo in a "rare
and risky" operation carried out in cooperation with the Syrian Red
Crescent.
UNHCR said in a statement that the operation took place following an
agreement with the Syrian government and the opposition to observe a
brief cease-fire that was respected by both sides.
It said two trucks packed with blankets, plastic sheeting, hygiene kits
and kitchen sets and food were delivered to the needy in the besieged
neighborhood of Bustan al-Qasr in eastern Aleppo.
UNHCR staff observed a "dire" humanitarian situation in the area,
including acute shortage of food, water and medicine, the statement
said. UNHCR last accessed the area in June 2013.
end quote from:
| ABC News | - |
Syria's
uprising, which began with largely peaceful protests against Assad's
rule in March 2011, has since evolved into a civil war with sectarian
overtones, pitting predominantly Sunni Muslim rebels against an Assad
government that is dominated by ...
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