Homs rebels surrender en masse

Twenty-eight rebel combatants holding out in encircled Old Homs surrendered themselves and their weapons to regime forces Monday, official government news agency SANA reported.

Their surrender comes one day after around 30 rebels were killed when an explosive-laden tank blew up near a rebel operations center, according to reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and various pro-government media outlets.

The 13 neighborhoods of Old Homs have been encircled by Syrian government troops for 670 days, who have barred the entry of humanitarian aid and the exit of civilians for all but a short-lived, 9-day truce in late January and early February 2014. Source: Syria Direct