Syrian forces kill 10 as crackdown continues, activists report

Syrian forces have killed at least 10 people in the central province of Homs after tanks and soldiers stormed more towns in the region, rights activists say.

Reuters

The killings happened after columns of tanks entered the town of Qusayr early Thursday, shooting at residents who tried to escape by fleeing through the fields.

One activist said that 16 people were wounded and that the army has now closed the entrances to the town, while security arrested residents.

Three other people were shot dead by security forces in the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor’s Al-Matar neighbourhood and several houses were torched, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said.

Tanks, troop carriers and buses transporting security force members also sped into the town of Saraqeb in the north-western Idlib province bordering Turkey soon after dawn Thursday, the Observatory reported.

On Wednesday, security forces shot dead 18 people in the Baba Amro neighbourhood of the city of Homs with more than 100 wounded “some in critical condition”, the group said.
It said residents were fleeing for safety while heavy machine-gun fire rattled Baba Amro well into Thursday morning.

The latest assaults come after UN Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco briefed the Security Council Wednesday about events in Syria in the week since the council called for an “immediate” halt to the violence.

His briefing was “depressing and chilling”, Britain’s deputy UN ambassador Philip Parham said.