SNC says 'horrific' Homs assault killed 260 people
A boy holds up a sign during an anti-regime demonstration in the Syrian village of al-Qsair, 25 km southwest of the flashpoint city Homs, on February 3, 2012. Photo/AFP
Syria's army randomly bombarded the protest hub of Homs early on Saturday, killing at least 260 civilians in one of the "most horrific massacres" in the country's uprising, an opposition group said.
In a statement sent to AFP in Beirut, the Syrian National Council called on the world to act and demanded that Russia change its position in the UN Security Council, condemn President Bashar al-Assad's regime and allow democracy.
"In the early morning hours of Saturday, Jan. 4, 2012, the Assad regime committed one of the most horrific massacres since the beginning of the uprising in Syria" in March last year, said the SNC.
"Assad forces randomly bombed residential areas in Homs, including Khaldiyeh and Qusur, which resulted in at least 260 civilians killed and hundreds of wounded, including men, women, and children."
The group said Assad's forces also "bombed" the flashpoint northern town of Jisr al-Shughur, near the border with Turkey, as well as suburbs of Damascus "in what seems to be preparations for similar massacres."
"The Syrian National Council calls on everyone around the world to speak up and do something to stop the bloodshed of innocent Syrians," it said in the statement.
"The SNC demands that Russia change its position regarding the Syrian regime's massacres.
"The SNC also demands that Russia clearly condemn the regime and hold it responsible for the massacres, to stop the killing in Syria, and allow Syrians to democratically elect a regime that ensures freedom and dignity for all Syrians," it concluded.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which is part of the Syrian National Council, called for an international probe into the bloodshed in Homs.
"We urge the UN Security Council and Arab League to form an international commission of inquiry to find those responsible for this heinous massacre perpetrated in Homs... and for them to be brought before the International Criminal Court," it said in a statement.
Brotherhood spokesman Zuhair Salem said that "Assad has transformed Homs into a real battlefield, waging a war of extermination against his own people."
He called on the Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which were absent on the ground in Syria, to act immediately to save people hurt in the crackdown.
