Advertisement

More Syrian violence despite U.N. convoy

HOMS, Syria, April 22 (UPI) -- Heavy shelling killed at least four people Sunday in Homs, one day after U.N. inspectors toured the Syrian city, activists say.

Violence in the city, a bastion of anti-government sentiment, had temporarily halted Saturday while two U.N. monitors were there, CNN reported Sunday.

Advertisement

"Today is the first day since two months ... Homs [is] without shelling," one man told the monitors Saturday. "When you come, shelling stops."

A fresh wave of violence began later Saturday as snipers targeted and killed five people in Homs, and more than 40 people were killed across Syria, CNN said.

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to authorize up to 300 unarmed monitors to go to Syria to enforce the United Nations' six-point peace plan. The United Nations had previously authorized a smaller convoy of 90 monitors.

"The secretary-general calls upon the government of Syria and other parties swiftly to create the conditions necessary for the deployment of the mission," a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement Saturday.

"He stresses the need for the government of Syria to end all violence and human rights violations, and in particular to stop the use of heavy weapons and to withdraw such weapons and armed units from population centers."

Advertisement

Latest Headlines