Assad Forces kill at least 27 in Waer, Homs

27 people have been killed by shelling of forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad in the embattled neighborhood of Waer in Homs city, with possibility to increase the death toll, activists reported.

Two days ago, Assad forces killed dozens of rebel fighters who tried to break an army siege of the central city of Homs, state media and a monitoring group said.

Abdul Basset Al-Sarout, prominent revolutionary figure and vocal supporter said 62 rebel of Al Bayyadha Battalion, including his two brothers, had been killed as they attempted to end an army siege that has lasted more than a year.

SANA news agency quoted a military source as saying army units "confronted armed terrorist groups" trying to get into the Khaldiya neighborhood north of the besieged rebel area in the Old City in the heart of Homs this week, according to Reuters.

Assad's forces have surrounded rebels for more than a year in Homs, a center of the uprising against Assad in 2011 which turned into an armed uprising and civil war after the Syrian leader's forces cracked down on protesters.

They have also pushed back rebel forces from nearby rural areas which had formed part of their supply lines from neighboring Lebanon and allowed the rebels to challenge control of the main highway linking Damascus to Homs, the Mediterranean coast and the north of the country.