Syria's ceasefire was on the verge of collapse on Sunday after the regime was accused of shelling the city of Homs and staging attacks in other towns.
Syria's ceasefire was on the verge of collapse last night (Sunday) after the regime was accused of shelling the city of Homs and staging attacks in other towns.
An advance team of United Nations monitors, approved by a security council resolution on Saturday, were due to fly into Damascus last night and begin work today.
But activists said that after a relatively quiet day on Thursday, when the ceasefire came into effect, violence by the regime had progressively worsened.
"The army are shelling with mortars and tanks, and small rockets," Waleed al-Fares, an activist in Homs, said by Skype. "Today we have 10 killed and 15 wounded. They broke the truce. They are doing this because there are no observers yet."
The British-based Syrian Network for Human Rights claimed that 26 people had died as a result of violence by regime forces on Saturday, most in Homs but also in Idlib, Deraa, Hama, and the countryside around Damascus.
Among them were a soldier trying to defect across the Jordanian border, a policeman and an official who had already defected, and an activist-photographer, Samir Shalab al-Sham, 26, and a father of two, who had been recording the shelling in Homs. Two children were also among the dead, a spokesman said. The total number killed yesterday was not yet clear. But Mr Fares said the attack on Homs was a warning not to talk to the UN observers when they arrived - in line with similar allegations made in advance of the arrival of Arab League observers in December.
"They are attacking this area because there are too many activists there," Fares said. "They are teaching people a lesson, not to go and talk when the observers arrive.
"Most of the people died in buildings that collapsed from the shelling. We cannot pull them from the rubble, because there are snipers." Videos posted online purported to show explosions, and snipers on rooftops. The regime accused rebel forces of attacking troops around the country, killing five people on Saturday, and said it would retaliate. Rebel fighters reportedly attacked a police station in Aleppo province.
"Authorities have a duty to safeguard the security of the nation and its citizens and will prevent these terrorist armed groups from continuing their criminal attacks," an official quoted by the state news agency said. "Since the announcement of an end to military operations, terrorist attacks have increased by dozens, causing a large loss of life."
The observers are supposed to oversee the ceasefire and the implementation of a six-point plan put forward by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general and official envoy of the UN and the Arab League.
Ahmed Fawzi, his spokesman, said six observers were due to land last night, with up to 30 to follow "quickly". The aim is to muster a total force of up to 250.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said he was "very much concerned" about the situation.
In a further threat to the mission, Bouthaina Shabaan, the media adviser to President Bashar al-Assad, said the authorities reserved the right to refuse admittance to observers based on their nationality - an indication that it will not co-operate with any representatives of countries the regime regards as hostile.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}