American, French journalist killed in Syrian bombardment of Homs
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As the Syrian city of Homs faced its 19th straight day of a government barrage, residents plead for a reprieve to allow women and children to leave the city and entry for aid convoys, while the Red Cross鈥檚 call for a two-hour daily truce received critical backing from Russia.
Moscow, which has been a staunch backer of President Bashar al-Assad, said today that it supported the International Committee of the Red Cross鈥檚 call for a daily, brief truce, , Agence France-Presse reports.
Assaults across Syria left at least 68 dead yesterday, according to estimates from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The barrage continued today, killing two Western journalists when a shell hit a makeshift media center in the city where they were working, according to AFP. Human rights groups say the death toll since the uprising began in March 2011 is nearing 8,000.
Human Rights Watch told 海角大神 that videos from Homs indicate that government troops are deploying the Russian-made 鈥淭ulip鈥� weapons system, 鈥渨hich fires the largest mortar round in any military鈥檚 arsenal鈥� 鈥� 240 mm 鈥� from up to 12.5 miles away. When the Russians infamously used it during their siege of the Chechen capital in 1999, they killed thousands of civilians. The use of these mortars in 鈥渄ense urban environments鈥� is a war crime, the Monitor reports.
Many activists in Homs fear the shelling is on the city, the BBC reports.
The were Sunday Times of London reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik. Their deaths were confirmed by the newspaper and the French foreign minister, respectively. Ms. Colvin, an American, was on air with CNN via phone the night before her death. She said Syria 鈥渨as the worst conflict she had covered,鈥� partly because of the sheer amount of shelling, according to CNN.
In (paywalled) published over the weekend, Colvin wrote that Homs residents were 鈥渨aiting for a massacre.鈥� 鈥淭he scale of human tragedy in the city is immense. The inhabitants are living in terror. Almost every family seems to have suffered the death or injury of a loved one... "On the lips of everyone was the question: 'Why have we been abandoned by the world?'" she wrote.
The Guardian writes that Colvin is considered Britain鈥檚 and has twice won the British press award for her foreign correspondent work.
At least two other journalists have been seriously wounded, according to several outlets, although their nationalities and the seriousness of their wounds have been reported differently by each.
The unrelenting nature of the assault on Homs coincides with the Obama administration 鈥� to arming anti-regime groups, the Associated Press reports. The White House and State Department coordinated their announcements that 鈥渁dditional measures鈥� may be coming if a political solution remains out of reach.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to take actions that would contribute to the further militarization of Syria because that could take the country down a dangerous path,鈥� White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. 鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 rule out additional measures if the international community should wait too long and not take the kind of action that needs to be taken.鈥�
The administration has previously said flatly that more weapons are not the answer to the Syrian situation. There had been no mention of 鈥渁dditional measures.鈥�
Meanwhile, in addition to backing Red Cross assistance, Russia has also proposed to the country to oversee humanitarian efforts, the Associated Press reports 鈥� the strongest move against Assad that Russia has so far taken. It has steadily provided arms to the regime throughout the uprising, , according to Reuters.聽
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