Syria opposition calls for Arab, Western intervention as new massacre strikes Homs

The opposition Syrian National Council called on Monday for military intervention by Arab and Western governments to protect civilians from President Bashar al-Assad's forces.   

George Sabra, a spokesman for the broad-based SNC, said the opposition wanted humanitarian corridors, safe zones and a no-fly zone to be set up to stop attacks by Assad forces, adding that the SNC had taken a decision to help arm the rebel Free Syrian Army.   

"We demand military intervention by Arab and Western countries to protect civilians. We demand establishment of secured humanitarian corridors and zones to protect the civilians. We demand implementation of a no fly zone over entire Syria to prevent Assad from continuing massacres," Sabra told a news conference in Istanbul.

In the field, a car bomb killed a schoolgirl on Monday and wounded 25 others at a school in the southern Syrian city of Deraa, the scene of sporadic street fighting between Free Syrian Army rebels and President Bashar al-Assad's troops, an opposition activist said.

"The car exploded at nine in the morning in al-Kashef neighborhood in front of al-Mahatta High School for Girls, which has been active in (anti-Assad) demonstrations," Maher Abdelhaq told Reuters from the city on the border with Jordan.

Meanwhile, Syrian activists said Monday that pro-government gunmen killed at least 16 people  including children  in a rebel stronghold recaptured by the government in the embattled city of Homs, fueling concerns the government is carrying out reprisals in territory it has captured.
 
State media in Damascus, which often ignores activists' claims, confirmed killings in Homs but blamed "armed terrorists" as it frequently calls those behind the uprising.          

Fresh from stamping out rebel centers of resistance in Homs, government forces are pressing on with new offensives in other parts of central and northern Syria. The reports of the killings add to concerns that the hundreds of civilian deaths caused by the fighting will be compounded by reprisals against opposition supporters in the recaptured towns and neighborhoods.           

The reports add to the pressure on U.N. Security Council members who are meeting to decide what to do next to stop the violence. A peacemaking mission by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan faltered with both government and opposition refusing to talk to one another.             

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 16 people were killed Sunday night while the Local Coordination Committees said 45 were "murdered." Both groups said children were among the dead.

Activists accused the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad of committing a “massacre”, while official Syrian television placed the blame on terrorist armed groups. According to the TV station, terrorist groups abducted the citizens of Homs, slayed and photographed them to incite the ire of the international community against Syria.

The Syrian opposition called on the Security Council to hold an urgent meeting on the “massacre” of Homs.

Sana quoted a media source as ruling out information spread by satellite channels that Al Salihia neighborhood and Al Midan in Damascus have been closed down, adding that this information is part of the hysterical terrorist media campaigns against Syria.

Reuters/LBCI