Syria conflict: 'Shelling intensifies' in Homs

The central Syrian city of Homs has come under renewed intense bombardment from government forces, activists say.

Homs has reportedly come under heavy attack in recent days and some have warned that civilians are trapped without access to essential supplies. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said over 1,000 families in Homs need to be evacuated. Meanwhile, activists have criticised the UN observer mission in Syria for deciding to suspend its activities. The Observatory said at least one person had died in Sunday’s violence in Homs’s Khalidiyeh district, and that 10 other deaths had been reported elsewhere in the country. “Eighty-five per cent of Homs is under attack”, Abu Imad, an activist in Homs, told the BBC. “I’m afraid that there are no safe places left in Homs. We will have to build a new city because there is nothing left,” he added. Videos uploaded to the internet by activists in the city’s al-Bayada and Ghouta districts appeared to show heavy damage to buildings and vehicles from bombardment in recent days.