Fierce clashes rage in Syrian city of Homs

12/03/2013| IslamWeb

Syrian regime forces have fired heavy machine guns and launched at least one airstrike on a neighborhood in the central city of Homs that revolution forces claimed to have seized.

Monday’s fresh fighting raged in and around the Baba Amr district, sending civilians in nearby neighborhoods fleeing the area.

Baba Amr, a poor neighborhood on the southwest side of Syria's third largest city, was a center of revolution to President Bashar al-Assad early in the uprising that began two years ago.

Last year, regime forces besieged Baba Amr for a month before revolution forces withdrew and the government seized control on March 1. Hundreds of people were killed in the violence, including two foreign journalists.

It was unclear how much of the neighborhood the revolution forces had seized on Sunday or continued to hold on Monday.

An activist in Homs reached via Skype on Monday said revolution fighters made a surprise entry into Baba Amr the previous morning and quickly took over seven government checkpoints in and near the neighborhood, seizing a good part of the area.

The government struck back on Monday, carrying out an airstrike, shelling the area and sending reinforcements, he said.

'Symbol of the revolution'

Another activist from Baba Amr, who is now in Lebanon, said revolution fighters had taken the whole neighborhood and were focused on holding it despite the government's harsh counter attack.

He said it was very important to the regime militarily and as a symbol, so revolution forces are excited that this symbol of the revolution has been retaken. Both activists spoke on condition of anonymity out of concerns for their safety.

An activist posted video online that appeared to show dozens of civilians, most of them women and children, fleeing the neighborhood.

The Syrian state news agency said the army had responded to "terrorists who sneaked into Baba Amr in Homs and committed crimes against people," killing a number of them. It said the army continued to pursue those remaining in the area.

The Syrian government blames its brutal crackdown on a foreign-backed conspiracy, calling the revolution forces "terrorists" bent on destroying the country.

In Brussels, European Union foreign ministers met to discuss ways to end the violence in Syria.

They were expected to discuss ending the EU's blanket arms embargo against the country to make it easier for sympathetic nations to send arms to the revolution forces.

Many EU diplomats, however, say more weapons will only exacerbate the situation.

Syrian General Salim Idris, a defector who now heads the revolution’s High Military Council, travelled to Brussels last week to plead for arms from the international community.

PHOTO CAPTION

Syrian women walk past destruction in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs on May 2, 2012.

Al-Jazeera