Syrian troops move to retake rebel-held district

[muriel_volestrangler]

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops advanced Wednesday on a key rebel-held area in the central city of Homs, where three Western journalists are among 100,000 residents trapped by a government assault that has raged for weeks. The forces appeared to be starting a ground operation to retake the area that has become a symbol of the uprising to oust President Bashar Assad.

Government forces have been heavily shelling Homs, and particularly the rebel-controlled Baba Amr neighborhood, for more than three weeks with tanks, artillery and rockets. The announcement by a Syrian official of the new troop advance indicated a ground assault was beginning to recapture Baba Amr, home to about 100,000 people.

A Syrian official vowed Baba Amr would be "cleaned" within hours. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Homs, Syria's third-largest city with a population of about 1 million, has become the major center of both anti-government resistance and reprisal, fueled in part by increasingly bold army defectors who want to bring down Assad's autocratic regime by force. The U.N. warned Tuesday that Syria's conflict looks increasingly like a civil war.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jhESKkIuy9tqVPXT043Wxrz9XdDg?docId=0ededcb7e08546efa2c4e9788ee17aba

[David__77]

1. I hope that Syria enjoys peace and security again soon.

...

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. I'm surprised this hasn't elicited more comment here.