Fighting in Homs as Syrian army continues advance
Syrian government troops have reportedly stormed a neighbourhood in the rebel stronghold of Homs as forces loyal to President Bashar Assad continue to make gains.
Footage purporting to show clashes in the city emerged in Sunday, capturing the sound of gunshots and explosions, as smoke rises.
Anti-government activists in the besieged city reported clashes, with one video described as showing government forces “storming” a neighbourhood in Homs.
The position of the rebels is looking increasingly precarious after government-backed forces recaptured the nearby towns of Qusair and Buwaidy.
According to Syrian state television, the Syrian army has regained control of the last stronghold of anti-government fighters in the Qusair area.
A large number of terrorists were killed while their criminal equipment was destroyed. Syrian government source
An unidentified army officer said: “Now we can announce that Qusair and its countryside are liberated and secure from the terrorist militant groups”.
The website of the state television service quoted an official source as saying that “a large number of terrorists were killed while their criminal equipment was destroyed”.
An eyewitness in the old quarter of Homs who has links with several rebel groups told the Associated Press that rebels sustained heavy losses late on Friday as they attempted to flee Buwaidy with their wounded and civilians.
With the help of Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, the Assad regime has been chasing rebels from long-held strategic areas linking the capital, Damascus, with the government stronghold areas along Mediterranean coast.
It gained momentum this week after seizing Qusair, and the army has begun advancing north toward the cities of Homs and Aleppo.
On Saturday, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb in Homs, targeting an area largely populated by the regime’s Alawite sect, a state-owned TV station reported.
The report said the seven killed included three women and a teenager, and said 10 other people were wounded as the blast heavily damaged nearby houses and vehicles.