Syrian troops step up attacks on rebel areas

Syrian troops intensified shelling of rebel-held neighbourhoods in Homs yesterday.

Activists said humanitarian conditions in the city are growing dire and pressed for the evacuation of 1,000 endangered families and dozens of wounded who cannot get adequate medical care.

Homs has been under siege for more than a week, part of a major escalation of violence around the country that forced the 300-strong UN observer force in Syria to call off its patrols.

“The humanitarian situation in Homs is very difficult,” said Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the British-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “It is very clear that the army wants to retake Homs.”

The Observatory asked the UN on Saturday to intervene in Homs to evacuate hundreds of men, women and children whose lives are in danger. It also said dozens of wounded people in rebel-controlled areas of the central city cannot get medicine.