Syrian security forces launched another attack on the city of Homs, this time targeting the neighborhood of al-Zeytoun, where activists said 45 people have been killed in the past two days.
At the same time, the army intensified its assault on the northern city of Idlib, killing 25 people on Sunday, activists said.
In all, 70 people were killed across the central city on Sunday, according to activists with the Local Coordination Committees network. Among those killed, they said, were children and women, and they described it as a “series of massacres.”
The London-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights said members of the Syrian army and the Shabiha militia group “entered the area and slaughtered at least 25 children and 20 women” in al-Zeytoun on Sunday night.
The human rights group said that there has been “a mass exodus” from al-Zeytoun, Bab Al-Duraib, and Al-Nazeehen in Homs.
During the year-long uprising and crackdown in Syria, Homs has been the hardest hit city. In the past two months, army forces shelled the neighborhood of Baba Amr and killed hundreds of people, forcing thousands of people to leave.
The International Committee for the Red Cross said it delivered food and supplies to residents who fled Baba Amr. Many people from the neighborhood fled to nearby Abel, the aid agency said, “leaving all their belongings behind.”
