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Syrian government forces bombard restive areas, says opposition

Arab World Materials 17 February 2012 13:16 (UTC +04:00)
Syrian government forces bombard restive areas, says opposition
Syrian government forces bombard restive areas, says opposition

Syrian government forces shelled the dissident province of Homs on Friday, hours after an overwhelming United Nations General Assembly vote condemned Damascus for continuing violence against civilians, opposition activists reported.

"This is the heaviest shelling we have seen over the past 13 days," said Omar Homsi, a Syrian activist.

"Buildings are collapsing due to the intense shelling in (the Homs districts of) Baba Amr and al-Khalidyeh," he told dpa by satellite phone.

Meanwhile, government troops for the first time bombarded restive areas in the city of Aleppo, which has recently been the scene of mass protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, activists said.

On Thursday, the UN General Assembly voted 137-12 to condemn Syria for the violence against its citizens and to call for the implementation of an Arab League plan to end the bloodshed within 15 days.

The Syrian opposition has commended the vote as a "victory for the Syrian uprising."

"The voting proves that the world is keen to stand by the free people of Syria and end this brutal regime," Naji Tayyara, the head of the Foreign Affairs Department at the opposition Syrian National Council, told dpa.

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