(Zaman Al Wasl)- Two civilians were killed on Sunday in regime airstrikes on the besieged al-Waer neighborhood in Homs city, local reporter said.
The residents of al-Waer and the towns and villages in Homs’ northern countryside are immobilized. All daily activities have halted including schools and markets. Residents are taking refuge in shelters or on ground floors for fear of the aerial campaign.
Al-Waer had for months been spared much of the intense violence raging elsewhere in the country, as the regime tried to conclude an agreement with insurgents there.
Bombardment of the district resumed earlier this month, rescue workers and the Observatory reported.
Pro-Syrian government media outlets have said strikes were in response to rebels firing at residential areas of government-held Homs neighborhoods.
Abu Faisal, a member of the executive office in the Free Homs Provincial Council said Saturday was one of the most violent days witnessed in the neighborhood. The regime warplanes began their aerial bombardment in the morning, and the air strikes continued until 5 p.m. The regime and auxiliary forces, have been targeting the neighborhood continuously with mortar and artillery rockets since the start of February. Speaking to Zaman al-Wasl about the areas targeted, Abu Faisal said, “There is no differentiation between one place or another. All parts of al-Waer are being targeted, schools, medical points, institutions, and residential buildings. The greatest damages are to buildings.”
Damascus has tried to conclude a deal in al-Waer that would see rebel fighters and their families leave the district and the government take over. Under similar local agreements in other parts of western Syria, rebels have left with light weapons and headed mostly for Idlib province.
The opposition says such agreements are part of a regime strategy to forcibly displace populations from opposition-held areas after years of siege and bombardment.
In September some 120 rebel fighters and their families left al-Waer in agreement with the government, but there have been no further reports of insurgents leaving. The Observatory estimates several thousand rebels remain there.
The head of the Free Homs Provincial Council, whose headquarters are in al-Waer neighborhood commented about the explosions targeting the Military Security and State Security branches on Saturday. He considered that these explosions, “cannot be read except as the Shiite militias moving to escalate the military campaign, especially al-Rida militia, which is participating in besieging the neighborhood and targeting its residents. The militia was responsible for confiscating the UN aid convoys heading to the neighborhood at the end of last week.”
Abu Faisal explained that the explosions demonstrate the extent of the struggle between the regime security branches on the one hand, and the Iranian and Hezbollah backed militias. He added that the explosions come before a meeting that was expected to be held on Sunday between the al-Waer negotiation committee and a Russian official. The meeting aimed at negotiating an end to the siege and reaching a solution that preserves the rights of the besieged residents and prevents the regime forcing to migrate from the neighborhood.
The military escalation on the al-Waer neighborhood and most of the towns in northern Homs countryside reached 65 aerial strikes on Saturday. In addition to 150 mortar and tank rockets, 11 explosive cylinders, and the continued sniper activities at all the exits and points surrounding al-Waer and the northern towns.
According to Zaman al-Wasl’s reporter in Homs, between Saturday and Sunday around 75 civilians have been affected by the campaign between killed and injured. Fifteen of the injured are divided between the towns of al-Houla, Akrab, and Teir Maalah. There are 55 injured civilians in al-Waer neighborhood among them seven in critical condition and three cases of amputees.
The medical staff in al-Waer neighborhood issued an appeal on Saturday stating, “We are unable to receive more patients after several cases of amputation, killed and injured.”
The medical staff also directed an appeal to the Negotiation Committee in Geneva demanding they, “halt all negotiations until there is a proper and real ceasefire.”
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.