Two foreign journalists have been killed in Homs, activists say, as shelling of a district of the Syrian city continued amid warnings of an escalating humanitarian crisis Al Jazeera reported
Nine other people were also reportedly killed on Wednesday in shelling which struck a building used by activists as a media centre, an activist told Al Jazeera. A photographer was also said to be seriously wounded.
Government forces bombarded the Bab Amr neighbourhood for a 20th straight day, according to activists, and fears were growing of a humanitarian crisis in the area.
Hadi al-Abdallah, an activist in Homs, described the humanitarian situation in Bab Amr as "catastrophic" on Wednesday morning.
"Water has been cut off from Bab Amr for 18 days," he told Al Jazeera. "There's no electricity, cooking oil or even bread. Many people are literally on the brink of starvation.
"People have fled their homes in fear of being bombed. They took refuge in a mosque, and there they were bombed too."
Shortage of medicine
The Homs Revolutionary Council reported a shortage of medicine, and said a large number of killed civilians were buried under the rubble of buildings damaged in the shelling.
In the nearby Inshaat neighbourhood, the council said security forces, supported by the army and by armoured vehicles, had carried out house raids and arrests.
Bab Amr is a stronghold of the armed opposition, but activists say most of those killed in the assault on the area are civilians.
The Local Co-ordination Committees says about 3,000 people have been killed in Homs province since the uprising began in March last year. The activist network says more than 8,000 people have been killed nationwide.
Official media said government forces were targeting "armed terrorist groups who have been terrifying citizens and attacking security forces and robbing public and private property".
State-run news agency SANA cited residents of Homs saying food and services were available and that reports claiming the opposite were "lies".
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