03.14
Antonio
Binnish has for the past week has been under the control of anti-Assad forces
A military offensive is continuing in northern Syria, as counting gets under way after a constitutional referendum.
A BBC correspondent says troops have been firing artillery, mortars and anti-aircraft guns at civilian areas in the opposition-held town of Binnish.
The city of Homs continues to be hit, activists reported, as France's president said a solution was in sight to rescue wounded Western journalists.
China meanwhile dismissed US criticism of its Syria policy as very arrogant.
A commentary in the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper said that after the experience of Iraq, the US had no right to speak for the Arab people.
Hillary Clinton: "I think there is every possibility of a civil war"
"Even now, violence continues unabated in Iraq and ordinary people enjoy no security. This alone is enough for us to draw a huge question mark over the sincerity and efficacy of US policy," it stated.
It follows a blunt statement by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, that the Chinese and Russian veto of a UN Security Council resolution on Syria earlier this month was "despicable" while "people are being murdered".
Beijing believes that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be allowed to carry out reforms to try to end the bloodshed.
The Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, has defended the veto, saying that Moscow wanted to avoid a replay of the Nato campaign in Libya.
TanksSyrian security forces reportedly launched attacks on several opposition-held areas in the north-western province of Idlib on Monday, including the towns of Sarmin, Maarat al-Numan and Binnish.
At the scene
The bombardment has started in Binnish, which for the past week has been under the control of the opposition. The Free Syrian Army and the Syrian Liberation Army are based in this town. We know that a government offensive has been taking place in the nearby city of Idlib. The townspeople have become increasingly concerned that the troops would then turn their attention to Binnish. That is what has happened this morning.
We were woken to the sound of artillery bombardment. There is gunfire in the distance. We believe they are using anti-aircraft weapons against the town, and also setting up mortar positions. This is a town of about 40,000 people and although there are militiamen belonging to the Free Syrian Army and other groups, this has not been a military situation. From what we can tell, the bombardment is entirely random and is not targeting specific individuals. This seems to be part of a wider government offensive that is taking place in the north of the country, to regain control of opposition areas.
The BBC's Ian Pannell, who is in northern Syria, says residents of Binnish, which for the past week has been under the control of the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian Liberation Army, were woken by the sound of artillery bombardment.
The government troops are firing anti-aircraft weapons at the town, and also setting up mortar and infantry positions on the outskirts.
Our correspondent says the bombardment appears to be entirely random, hitting civilian areas rather than targeting rebel positions.
Activists in the town of Sarmin, not far to the south of Binnish, also said it had been shelled and that tanks were preparing to storm it.
The Local Co-ordination Committees, which organises and documents protests, said troops backed by tanks had been deployed to the south and east of Sarmin, and that helicopters were flying overhead.
The group also said Maarat al-Numan, south of the city of Idlib, had been attacked, with several tanks entering the town from the south.
Activists said at least 59 civilians and soldiers were killed across the county on Sunday as people voted in a referendum on a constitution that offered reforms.
The Syrian government is due to announce the result of the vote on the constitution, which would drop an article making the ruling Baath Party the "leader of state and society", allow a degree of political pluralism and enact a presidential limit of two seven-year terms.
One video from Idlib province showed hundreds of men chanting: "To hell with them and their constitution." Another video from Idlib showed men filing through a fake polling station and dropping their ballots in a bin.
'Extremely tense'The military also continued to bombard opposition-held areas of the central city of Homs on Monday for the fourth consecutive week.
One activist said shells had begun hitting the districts of Baba Amr, Khalidiya, Ashira, Bayada and the old city at dawn, and that at least two people had been killed.
"The army is firing from the main thoroughfares deep into alleyways and side streets," Mohammed al-Homsi told the Reuters news agency.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) meanwhile said the humanitarian situation in Baba Amr was increasingly dire.
"Negotiations have resumed with Syrian authorities and the opposition in order to continue evacuating all persons in need of help," Hicham Hassan, an ICRC spokesman in Geneva, told Reuters on Monday.
"We hope to be able to carry out many more life-saving operations," he added. "We are hopeful the ICRC will also enter Baba Amr today."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy also said that it might soon be possible to get two wounded Western journalists out of Homs.
"We have the beginnings of a solution," he told RTL radio. "It seems that things are starting to move."
Mr Sarkozy did not provide any details, saying the situation in Homs was "extremely tense" and that he did not have "much trust in the Syrian regime".
British photographer Paul Conroy and French reporter Edith Bouvier were wounded in an attack on Wednesday which claimed the life of American Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik.
27 Feb, 2012
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-17176943
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