Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Relief operation continues in Homs

Syria conflict: Aid and evacuations continue in Homs

More than 1,000 civilians have been evacuated from Homs so far, as Lyse Doucet reports

The UN-backed evacuation of civilians and delivery of aid has continued at the besieged rebel-held Old City of Homs.

Nearly 200 parcels containing flour, rice, vegetable oil and other foodstuffs were sent in, while more than 200 civilians left.

They will join the hundreds allowed out since the truce was agreed on Friday.

But concerns remain over the fate of men of military age who face questioning by the Syrian authorities.

And hundreds of civilians remain trapped inside the Old City.

The regime has said it may allow an extension to the current ceasefire, due to end late on Wednesday.

The BBC's Lyse Doucet, in Homs, says every precaution was being taken with the latest delivery of food parcels.

An abandoned ballroom on the edge of Homs is being used to care for evacuees, Lyse Doucet says

Red Crescent vehicles were attacked on their way to the Old City at the weekend, and their workers were briefly trapped.

In other developments:

  • Syrian government forces and their Lebanese Shia ally Hezbollah have stepped up an assault on the strategic opposition-held town of Yabroud, near the Lebanese border, with at least 13 air strikes reported. Lebanese officials told the BBC dozens of families were streaming over the border in anticipation of a major assault
  • Syrian government and opposition delegations are holding a third day of talks in Geneva
  • Russia has again rejected the idea of a UN Security Council resolution that would call on all sides to allow aid workers access across Syria
  • A man thought to be the first Briton to have carried out a suicide bombing in Syria is named as Abdul Waheed Majid
'Weeding out terrorists'

Government troops have besieged Homs for 18 months.

Evacuations over the weekend were facilitated by a three-day truce, which was then extended until Wednesday, though the relief operation was halted by a day on Tuesday due to logistical reasons.

The UN's local humanitarian co-ordinator, Yacoub El Hillo, and Homs Governor Talal Barazi said more than 200 civilians had been taken out of Homs in Wednesday's operation.

But UN agencies have also expressed concern over the fate of dozens of men who were taken in by Syrian security personnel after they fled Homs.

The detainees were being held at an abandoned school, the UN said.

Mr Barazi said 111 men had been questioned and released, while 190 others were still being held.

"I just want to say I hope that that the bigger percentage will all be released," he told the BBC.

"They are living in a shelter in very good conditions. They have all the services, health, medical services and they are all secure."

The Syrian authorities said the screening was necessary to weed out "terrorists".

A wounded man is seen on the ground as he waits to be evacuated from a besieged area of Homs 10 February 2014. Many people in Homs have endured months under siege with little food or medical care
People stand near the wreckage of a van at a site hit by what activists said was a barrel bomb dropped by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Haydariye district, Aleppo, on Wednesday Despite the truce in Homs, the bombs continue to fall elsewhere - here the aftermath of what activists said was a barrel bomb dropped by regime forces on a district of Aleppo
A Syrian man with his wife and child ride a motorcycle as they flee from Yabroud, the last rebel stronghold in Syria's mountainous Qalamoun region, on their way to the Lebanese-Syrian border town of Arssal, in eastern Lebanon, on Wednesday Meanwhile, families are fleeing the rebel stronghold of Yabroud as it comes under attack from the combined forces of the regime and Hezbollah

In Geneva, Syrian government and opposition negotiators met face-to-face again on Wednesday.

But earlier, UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi lamented a lack of progress.

He has brought forward a meeting with Russian and US officials by one day to Thursday in an apparent attempt to get them to apply pressure to the opposed Syrian sides.

The first round of talks ended last month with no firm agreements and both sides trading insults.

Meanwhile, the bloodshed continues inside Syria, with the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights saying Syrians are being killed at a faster rate than ever.

The British-based group, which has links to the opposition, said at least 4,959 people had died in the three-week period since 22 January, when the first round of Swiss talks began.

The opposition wants the government to commit in writing to the 2012 Geneva Communique, which called for the formation of a transitional administration with full executive authority.

President Bashar al-Assad's government has ruled out any transfer of power.

The civil conflict has claimed more than 100,000 lives since 2011 and has driven 9.5 million people from their homes.

Homs map

No comments:

Post a Comment