Sections
Log in
Top News
U.S. News World News Featured Voices
Odd News
Entertainment
Movies Music TV
Sports
Soccer NFL NBA MLB NHL Golf Horse Racing Tennis Col. Football Col. Basketball
Photos
News Entertainment Sports Features Archives
More...
Defense Featured Science Health Archive Almanac
About Feedback
About Feedback
Search
Trending
9/11 fund
Payless
Theodore McCarrick
Jussie Smollett
Illinois shooting
Iran attack
Laurie Hernandez
'Alexa & Katie'
Nigeria election
Colin Kaepernick
Stephen Curry
YNW Melly
U.S. News
June 8, 2012 / 11:34 AM

Artillery attacks reported in Homs, Syria

A handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syrian president Bashar al-Assad (R) shaking hands with his supporters in Damascus, Syria, February, 26 2012. UPI. | License Photo
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the southern Gaza Strip, February 2, 2012. UPI/Abed Rahim Khatib | License Photo
U.N.-Arab league envoy Kofi Annan in Tehran, April 11,2012. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian | License Photo

HOMS, Syria, June 8 (UPI) -- A rebel position in the city of Homs was shelled by Syrian forces Friday, activists said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Activists and human rights groups said the neighborhood of Khaldiyeh in central Homs was hit by artillery fire during the morning, The Washington Post reported.

The report came a day after U.N. Special Envoy Kofi Annan said there is a need for "substantial pressure" to end the crisis in Syria.

Annan and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a reinvigorated diplomatic push to avoid a civil war in the country where opposition forces reported a massacre this week in the farming hamlet of Qubeir.

RELATED Ban Ki-moon: 'Syria at pivotal moment'

"We will soon reach a day when it will be impossible to keep the crisis from spiraling out of control," Annan told the U.N. Security Council.

Xinhua reported that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said Friday the international community should be "confident and patient" regarding Annan's peace efforts for Syria.

China, along with Russia, has twice blocked Security Council resolutions against Syria.

RELATED Syria thwarts Turkish, Lebanese attacks

U.N. observers were able to reach Qubeir in the west-central province of Hama Friday after being blocked from the area the day before, CBS reported.

On Wednesday, the opposition said, regime forces massacred as many as 78 people -- half of them women and children -- in Qubeir.

Ban called the reports from Qubeir "shocking and sickening."

RELATED At least 78 killed in Syrian village

"The bodies of innocent civilians, lying where they were, shot. Some were allegedly burned [alive] or slashed with knives," he said.

The Qubeir attack was described by activists and residents as resembling a May 25 massacre of 108 people -- mostly women and children -- in the Houla agriculture area of western Syria northwest of Homs.

Ban said it has been evident for many months that President Bashar Assad and his government had "lost all legitimacy" but now it is clear that "any regime or leader that tolerates such killing of innocents has lost its fundamental humanity."

RELATED U.S. backs Chapter VII resolution for Syria

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the massacres "unconscionable" and called on Assad to surrender power and go into exile.

Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari denied regime involvement in the Qubeir massacre, telling the Security Council "terrorists" outmaneuvering Syrian armed forces had carried it out.

Regime troops tried to save civilians and four were wounded in the attempt, he said.

RELATED Syria expels EU, other Western envoys

He accused TV news organizations of broadcasting images of bodies from a different location and mislabeling the footage as coming from Qubeir.

Syrian state television will release "true images" in due time, he said.

  • Topics
  • Kofi Annan
  • Sunni Muslim
  • Hillary Clinton
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more UPI news and photos.

Trending Stories

Pentagon chief to review funds to shift for building border wall
Anthony Weiner released from prison to federal re-entry program
Four hostages, gunman dead after 12-hour hostage standoff in Mississippi
Teen who joined IS in Syria gives birth, seeks return to Britain
Jussie Smollett's lawyers deny he orchestrated attack

Photo Gallery

 
King wins Best in Show at the Westminster dog show

Latest News

UPI Almanac for Monday, Feb. 18, 2019
Famous birthdays for Feb. 18: Dr. Dre, Toni Morrison
On This Day: Dozens die in Kiev, Ukraine, protests
Fashion icon Lee Radziwill dies at 85
Stephen Curry ends All-Star Game with reverse slam off bounce alley-oop
 
Back to Article
/
Back to top
About UPI Contact Feedback Advertisements Submit News Tips
Copyright © 2019 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of UsePrivacy Policy