New military assault in Homs causing 79 deaths

At least 79 people were killed yesterday Monday in Syria, 42 of them in the rebel region of Homs, where the army launched a fresh assault, in a conflict that creates international tension following the veto of Russia and China at the UN for a condemnation of the crackdown project.

This new offensive, denounced by the opposition and denied by the regime, is carried out by the eve of the arrival in Damascus the head of Russian diplomacy, Serguei Lavrov, whose country vetoed a UN resolution condemning repression in Syria.

Violence in the country left at least 79 dead yesterday Monday, in total, of which 66 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory of human rights (OSDH) opposition, headquartered in United Kingdom.

Forty-two civilians were killed in operations of the forces of the regime in Homs (Center), according the OSDH who warned that the balance could increase that many injured are in critical conditions.

Another 12 were killed in the province of Homs u000apeople (ten of them in Rastan), 15 in the region of Damascus (including 10 in an assault to Zabadani), one in the northern city of Aleppo and 9 in Idleb (North-West).

Attack on roadblock
addition, three officers were killed in an attack on a military roadblock in Idleb, announced the Agency official Sana.

Army also launched an attack against the city of Zabadani (northeast of the capital), said the Observatory, and pointed out that 10 civilians were killed.

The National Council SIRIUS (CNS), main opposition coalition, urged the international community to act quickly to "prevent a new massacre", after the bombing that left more than 230 dead in Homs, according to activists, on Saturday at dawn.

The regime denied having bombed Homs and blamed the violence on "armed groups", as it does from the start of the revolt nearly 11 months ago. According to the militants, this repression left at least 6,000 people dead. The morning u000ayesterday, which surrounds and troops periodically strike Homs from months ago began to bombard with rockets and mortar shells at several neighborhoods of this city, nicknamed "the capital of the revolution", mainly Baba Amro, Inshaat and Jaldiye. "Is the first time we suffer an attack so" in Baba Amro, said Omar Shajer, a militant of the neighborhood contacted by phone in Beirut, who spoke of "a large number of martyrs".

closure of Embassy of the United States
United States closed its Embassy in Damascus yesterday and withdrew all his personal diplomatic in Syria for reasons of security, while President Barack Obama still hoped a political solution to the crisis in that country, despite the failure of a resolution condemning the regime at the UN. "We have suspended our diplomatic presence in Damascus, we have not broken diplomatic relations," the spokesman for the State Department, Victoria clarified at its daily press u000aNuland.

Before leaving for Damascus, the American Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, met with the Syrian Minister for foreign, Walid to the Mualem, to inform him of the decision to "suspend" the activity of the Embassy, to United States "is not sufficiently protected" against a possible armed attack.

American Government had been weeks, reiterating its "serious concerns" about the safety of their personnel in Syria, especially following the attacks with car bomb in Damascus from December 23 and January 6.

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