Syrian army renews assault on central Homs, 68 killed

Regime forces fire rockets into Homs, a city in western Syria British based organisation, the Syrian Observatory for Human Right, said on Thursday that Syrian warplanes bombed the central city of Homs on Thursday, with insurgents and troops battling on the ground as regime forces pressed an assault on rebel-held neighbourhoods.
"Warplanes carried out two raids against the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood of Homs, and both Khaldiyeh and the Old City were under heavy rocket fire producing the sound of explosions and plumes of smoke," the NGO said.
Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC) announced that by the end of Thursday, the group managed to document 68 killed people - among them six women, 11 children, and four under torture.
Twenty nine were reported killed in Damascus and its suburbs; 18 in Aleppo; eight in Daraa; five in Homs; four in Idlib; two in Hama; and two in Deir Ezzor
Regime forces began a campaign to retake several rebel-held neighbourhoods of Homs, often dubbed the capital of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, on Saturday.
The neighbourhoods being targeted have been under siege by regime troops for more than a year, and many civilians have fled, but concerns have been raised about those who remain.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed fears for 2,500 civilians "trapped" in the city, which is home to a patchwork of religious communities.Ban called on "the warring sides to do their utmost to avoid civilian casualties and to allow immediate humanitarian access, as well as opportunities for trapped civilians to leave without fear of persecution".
Elsewhere in the country, the Observatory said an aide to the labour minister was injured by an explosive device planted in his car in the Baramkeh district of Damascus.
The group, which relies on a network of activists, doctors and lawyers on the ground, also reported shelling on the Palestinian Yarmouk refugee camp in the capital.
Syria has called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to dispatch humanitarian aid to Syrians who are trapped by Takfiri groups in the city of Homs.
In a Thursday statement, the Syrian foreign ministry said Damascus has formally requested the Geneva-based humanitarian body to assist the citizens who have been used as human shields by the foreign-backed Takfiri extremists in the western city of Homs.
The Syrian ministry also asked the Red Cross to help safely evacuate the trapped citizens from the areas controlled by armed groups in Homs.
“Syria stresses that the efforts of the armed forces for restoring security and stability to the homeland and enabling citizens to return to their homes are completely consistent with their national responsibilities and are part of the Syrian government’s commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms,” the Syrian foreign ministry stated.
The Syrian government denounced the United States and its allies as “complicit in conspiring against Syria and shedding the Syrians’ blood.”
Foreign-sponsored militancy has taken its toll on the lives of many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, since March 2011.