Syrian forces launched a massive bombardment of rebel districts of Homs on Thursday, defying a world outcry over the killing of two Western journalists and a citizen reporter who were among the few to bear witness of the civilian toll.
Activists spoke of “terrifying explosions” as encircling regime troops pounded the central city for a 20th straight day.
The UN Human Rights Council said it had a list of Syrian officials suspected of crimes against humanity after an inquiry found that that the government had “manifestly failed” in its duty to protect its own people.
But a defiant foreign ministry rejected all responsibility for the deaths of veteran American reporter Marie Colvin and French photojournalist Remi Ochlik, insisting that they had entered the country illegally and at their own risk.
The dawn bombardment of Homs — Syria’s third-largest city — centred on the Baba Amr neighbourhood, where the two journalists were killed, a human rights watchdog said.
“Baba Amr, as well as parts of Inshaat, have been shelled since 7:00 am (0500 GMT), while mortar rounds slammed into the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood,” the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.
Activist Hadi Abdullah told AFP from inside the city: “We hear terrifying explosions.”
He said the world outcry over the deaths of the journalists and 24 Syrian civilians in Homs on Wednesday appeared only to have strengthened the regime’s determination to eliminate all opposition in the city.
“The more the condemnations pile on, the heavier the bombing becomes,” he said.
Abdullah said there was evidence that the makeshift media centre where the journalists were killed and two others wounded was deliberately targeted by regime forces.
“We are sure that the centre was targeted, because 11 rockets struck in and around it,” he said.
“The regime forces intercepted a transmission signal.”
The Syrian government made no denial that its forces had fired the lethal rounds but said that the journalists had been in the country at their own risk.
“We reject statements holding Syria responsible for the deaths of journalists who sneaked into its territory at their own risk,” said a foreign ministry statement read out on state television.
The ministry urged journalists to “respect laws of journalistic work in Syria and avoid breaking the law by entering the country illegally to reach trouble-hit areas that are unsafe.”
French newspaper Le Figaro said one of its reporters, Edith Bouvier, was wounded in the legs in the shelling of the press centre.
