Spike in Syrian Violence

Yesterday evening, Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad began an assault on the city of Homs that has killed more than 30 people. “There has been a terrifying massacre,” reported Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Residents of the city said “shabbiha” militiamen loyal to Assad’s Alawite sect had killed 14 members of the Bahader family in Homs’s Karm al-Zaitoun district, including eight children. The slayings are reported to have been followed by a barrage of mortar fire leading to the deaths of 16 people. The assault of Homs began soon after the United Nations  said it could no longer keep track of the death toll in Syria, which it put at more than 5,400 over a month ago. U.N. Human Rights Chief, Navi Pillay, said, “we are experiencing difficulties because of the fragmentation on the ground.” Subsequently, the Free Syrian Army released a video reporting they had captured seven Iranians, five of which being members of the Revolutionary Guards, in Homs. The men are alleged to have been operating as snipers under the direct supervision of Syria’s Air Force Intelligence branch.

Elsewhere, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that Hama came under assault in the early hours of Friday. More than 30 people had been killed in the assault, and the observatory has urged “Arab League observers to visit the city.”

Meanwhile, Nabil Elaraby, the secretary-general of the Arab League, and Sheikh Hamad bin Jasem Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister, are planning a visit to New York to submit a proposal to the Security Council. The plan calls for a “political transition,” similar to what recently occurred in Yemen with President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Elaraby stated, “[The Arab League] is hoping that there will be a vote later in the week.” Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. chief, urged the Security Council to speak with one voice on Syria, and added, “we have to seize this moment, we have to help these people. They have been oppressed for so long.” Russia continues to support Syria and is standing firm on blocking U.N. sanctions which Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has called ”unfair and counterproductive.” Lavrov affirmed that any U.N. resolution can leave no room to “be interpreted to justify any foreign military interference in the Syrian crisis.”