Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Syria: rockets rain down on Homs as violence escalates



More than 200 rockets fall in space of three hours on opposition-controlled suburb of Baba Amr, according to residents

Julian Borger, Luke Harding and Chris McGreal in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 February 2012

"The Assad government escalated its military onslaught on the Syrian opposition with the most intense bombardment of rebel-held areas so far, as the west and the Arab world scrambled to find a new diplomatic strategy without Russian and Chinese help.

Tanks and heavy artillery were used on an unprecedented scale, according to witnesses. More than 200 rockets fell in the space of three hours on just one part of Homs, the opposition-controlled suburb of Baba Amr, residents said.

One activist, Raji, speaking from a basement inside Baba Amr, said Syrian forces were now using a heavier artillery round with devastating effect. In addition to the 27 people killed , he said many people were lying dead under the rubble of their houses. There were also reports that 18 premature babies had died in hospital after power cuts caused their incubators to fail, according to the BBC....."

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