Syrian Violence Reaches New High as More than 100 People Reportedly Killed in Homs
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is a group based out of Britain, there were more than 100 people killed yesterday in Homs. Reports are coming in that security forces of President Bashar Assad’s regime were responsible for the deaths. This comes the day before a vote by the United Nations Security Council is supposed to take place. That vote will be on a resolution to stop the violence and crackdown against anti-government protestors in Syria.
The Khalidya district of Homs is where the massacre is said to have happened, with many women and children dying in the fighting. Homs was also heavily shelled by artillery rounds and mortars. There are reports that several buildings are on fire and other buildings that were simply destroyed.
Rami Abdulrahman, who is the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that the total of dead is actually 105. Abdulrahman said that security forces were bombing Homs from several locations all at once.
It is not known if the resolution that calls for Assad to step down will pass or not. Russia has vowed to veto the resolution because there is not a specific clause that rules out military intervention. The vote is supposed to happen in a few hours and Russia’s decision to abstain, veto, or vote in favor will likely be the deciding factor on whether or not it passes. Russia was supposed to submit proposals for changes to the resolution, but several diplomats have said that there has been nothing submitted by the Russian diplomats yet. Russia was also not happy the resolution called for Assad to step down.
Gennady Gatilov, who is the deputy foreign minister for Russia, said that while Russia would not support the resolution as it is currently written did say that he was confident that some sort of agreement could be reached.
