(Zaman Al Wasl)- A 48-hour truce entered into effect in the besieged Al-Waer neighborhood in the city of Homs on Monday, a day after fierce aerial bombing killed 7 civilians and wounded dozens, residents told Zaman al-Wasl.
The truce followed two days of air raids, the first such strikes since around a year ago in the rebel-held area where community leaders in December reached a U.N.-sponsored deal with authorities to evacuate fighters under a phased plan that would have shored up regime control of the city.
But there has been no progress since the evacuation of hundreds of fighters in implementing later phases of the deal that stipulates that fighters still in the district must surrender heavy weapons while being allowed to keep their light arms.
Homs was a center of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad. A previous truce in Homs in 2014 allowed insurgents to withdraw from the Old City while Al-Waer remained in the hands of insurgents.
It has since been under a tight siege by Syrian army and pro-government militias. Aside from several U.N. humanitarian deliveries, the authorities have blocked supplies of most food and aid into the quarter.
Residents and local officials said the escalation came a day after former rebel-held Daraya, a Damascus suburb, was evacuated by rebels after relentless bombing and a tough siege.
They accuse the army of stepping up military pressure on Al-Waer to force a capitulation of the rebels who are estimated to number several thousand in a district with at least 50,000 civilians.
"The regime after succeeding in evicting the people of Daraya has begun to escalate its pressure on us," said Bebars Tilawi, an activist in the quarter.
Aid officials and Washington have decried what they call a "starve-or-surrender tactic" they say is used mainly by the Syrian government and other warring parties as a tool against besieged areas to regain government control. (With Reuters)
The truce followed two days of air raids, the first such strikes since around a year ago in the rebel-held area where community leaders in December reached a U.N.-sponsored deal with authorities to evacuate fighters under a phased plan that would have shored up regime control of the city.
But there has been no progress since the evacuation of hundreds of fighters in implementing later phases of the deal that stipulates that fighters still in the district must surrender heavy weapons while being allowed to keep their light arms.
Homs was a center of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad. A previous truce in Homs in 2014 allowed insurgents to withdraw from the Old City while Al-Waer remained in the hands of insurgents.
It has since been under a tight siege by Syrian army and pro-government militias. Aside from several U.N. humanitarian deliveries, the authorities have blocked supplies of most food and aid into the quarter.
Residents and local officials said the escalation came a day after former rebel-held Daraya, a Damascus suburb, was evacuated by rebels after relentless bombing and a tough siege.
They accuse the army of stepping up military pressure on Al-Waer to force a capitulation of the rebels who are estimated to number several thousand in a district with at least 50,000 civilians.
"The regime after succeeding in evicting the people of Daraya has begun to escalate its pressure on us," said Bebars Tilawi, an activist in the quarter.
Aid officials and Washington have decried what they call a "starve-or-surrender tactic" they say is used mainly by the Syrian government and other warring parties as a tool against besieged areas to regain government control. (With Reuters)
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