Syria launches deadly assault on Homs

HOMS, Syria, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- At least 200 people were killed Friday night in a bombardment of Homs, one of the centers of opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad, activists said.

Omar Shakir, a dissident in the city, told The Washington Post many of those who died were in buildings that collapsed under missile attack from government forces ringing Homs. He put the death toll at 220 and said 700 people were injured.

The attack could be the deadliest single effort by Assad's regime to crack down on dissent. Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said the government may have been heartened by Russian "stalling" on a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syrian government violence against dissenters.

Gangs of Assad loyalists took many of the injured from a hospital near the first neighborhood to be attacked, Shakir said. The military blocked roads to other hospitals.

"Assad has lost control of this city and became mad, he became crazy to do these crimes," Shakir said.

Syrians in the United States and Britain said they had been in touch with friends and family in Homs who confirmed Shakir's account.

Dima Moussa, who was born in Homs and now lives in the United States, is a member of the Syrian National Council.

"At least four buildings have collapsed," she told the Post. "There are still people under the rubble. It's the middle of the night -- they can't get to them."