Syrian forces yesterday stormed the rebel bastion of Qalaat al-Madiq as United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon urged President Bashar al-Assad to “immediately” implement a UN-Arab League peace plan he reportedly accepted.
Regime army also tried to attack other rebel positions across the country, including Idlib, central Homs and Daraa
The United States accused the Assad regime of failing to fulfill a pledge to respect the plan.
“Assad has not taken the necessary steps to implement” the peace plan crafted by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington.
China and Russia also upped the pressure urging both their ally Syria and the opposition to honour commitments to halt armed conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives since it first erupted in March last year.
Moscow strongly urged the Syrian opposition to “follow the example” of the Damascus regime in supporting Mr Annan’s mediation efforts to stop the bloodshed. And in Baghdad, Arab foreign ministers thrashed out a resolution on Syria to be debated at a landmark Arab League summit today; even as Damascus warned it would not abide by any of its initiatives.
On the ground, Syrian forces backed by tanks attacked the central town of Qalaat al-Madiq and other areas yesterday, sparking clashes which cost at least 21 lives, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The monitoring group said four civilians were killed in shelling, while five rebel fighters and four soldiers died in fierce clashes in Qalaat al-Madiq and surrounding villages.
The army also tried to storm other rebel positions across the country, including in northwest Idlib, in central Homs and in the southern province of Daraa, the Britain-based group said.
It said troops entered the town of Qalaat al-Madiq, in Hama province, just after dawn following a 17-day barrage of shelling and heavy gunfire to root out rebels. The army, however, was not in full control of the town.
The army’s offensive is part of a drive by the regime to claim control of key rebel strongholds as it tries to crush an unprecedented revolt.
Fierce clashes were also reported in the province of Daraa, cradle of the year-long revolt that has left more than 9,000 people dead according to the United Nations.
In Homs province, three soldiers were killed and 16 others wounded in fighting with rebels in the town of Rastan, it added. Five people were killed by sniper fire or clashes in neighbourhoods of the city of Homs.
The Arab summit in Baghdad will stop short of calling for Assad to quit or discuss arming his foes, both sharply divisive issues, Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on the eve of the meeting of the region’s leaders.
The UN chief, who was to attend the summit, urged the Syrian President “to put commitments into immediate effect. There is no time to waste.”
He expressed concern at the continued bloodshed but welcomed Syria’s acceptance of the six-point plan put forward by Mr Annan as an “important initial step” towards ending the bloodshed.