The Syrian army launched an offensive in Homs

The Syrian army launched Saturday, June 29, an offensive to try to conquer a rebel area in the center of Homs, the heart of Syria, said an NGO and a source of security services in Damascus. 

According to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (OSDH), "there are violent bombardments and troops trying to advance on Khaldiyé because the purpose of the army is to control the whole city," which was nicknamed by activists at the beginning of the rebellion the "capital of revolution." 

"The Air Force has conducted several raids and military uses all his artillery, whether mortars, rockets, shells of tanks and guns," said the organization, which is based on a wide network activists and civilian medical and military sources across the country. The network of anti-regime Local Coordination Committees (LCC) activist said that "more than a hundred shells fell in a quarter of an hour on the neighborhood." 

According to an activist Khaldiyé, Yazane Homsi, contacted by AFP via Skype, "it is the largest bombing since March. Regime forces tried unsuccessfully to move on three axes and they destroyed buildings" . "Taking Khaldiyé they morcelleront rebel areas. A Khaldiyé all staples such as rice and sugar shortage. Remains only a hundred families, but there are many rebels," he added. 

CUT BETWEEN SUPPLY AND HOMS HAMA 

A source in the security services in Damascus confirmed to AFP the intense fighting. "Military operations have never stopped in Homs but their rate increases according to the priorities," said the senior official. "The important thing is to clean the neighborhoods of Homs in the hands of gunmen, including Khaldiyé, Hamidie and the Old City," he said, taking the terminology system that equates the rebels "terrorists". 

"The army advance on all fronts but at different speeds when it comes to streets or alleys. Advances may be slow but it is real," he added. "A few days ago, the army took over the area Qaryatein", southeast of the city of Homs, the source said. 

The army had regained control, a year ago, the majority of Homs but it has been over a year she tries to conquer these areas the rebels defend tooth and nail. According to Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the OSDH, "the army seeks to isolate the southern province of Hama and the northern province of Homs to cut the supply route between the two provinces."