Hundreds evacuated as truce extended in besieged Syrian city of Homs
UN-brokered cease fire extended for three days to allow more women, children and elderly to escape underfire Homs as peace talks resume in Geneva
Aid officials rushed to evacuate more women, children and elderly from rebel-held areas that have been blockaded by government troops for more than a year in Syria’s third-largest city, Homs, after a UN-brokered cease-fire in the city was renewed for three more days on Monday.
The truce, which began on Friday, has been shaken by continued shelling and shooting that prevented some residents from escaping and limited the amount of food aid officials have been able to deliver into the besieged neighbourhoods.
UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos sharply criticised the two sides, saying UN and Syrian Red Crescent workers were “deliberately targeted”.
The drama in Homs, where Amos said around 800 civilians have been evacuated so far, played out as activists on Monday reported new sectarian killings in Syria’s civil war.
Al-Qaeda-inspired rebels killed more than two dozen civilians, including an entire family, when they overran a village populated by minority Alawites on Sunday, Rami Abdurrahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. They also killed around 20 local fighters in the village, he said.
The violence further rattled peace talks that entered their second round Monday in Geneva – and which quickly became mired in recriminations between President Bashar Assad’s government and the opposition in exile.
“The negotiations cannot continue while the regime is stepping up its violence against the Syrian people.”