Syrian forces launched a pre-dawn raid on opposition strongholds

Cairo: Syrian forces have launched a pre-dawn raid on against the rebellious city of Homs where dozens have been killed. Western and Arab nations rush to unveil a draft UN resolution that would condemn the deadly crackdown. The head of the Arab League observers mission in Syria said violence in the said arab country has been escalated over the past three days in three syrian cities. Gen. Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi said in a statement issued here on Friday that three Syrian cities Homs, Hama and Idlib have witnessed a “very high escalation” of violence since Tuesday.

The assault came hours after the UN said it could no longer keep track of the death toll in the Syrian unrest, which it had put at more than 5,400 over a month ago.

The Homs raid began late on Thursday in the Karm al-Zeitoun neighbourhood with the Syrian Human Rights Observatory reporting 33 people killed in Syria’s third-largest city, 160 km north of the capital, bringing the day’s total to 62 dead across the country.

The Local Coordination Committees, which organise protests on the ground, said that by Friday regime forces had pounded the Bab Seba neighbourhood with heavy artillery and rocket fire. Sounds of intense fighting were also heard from the Baba Amro neighbourhood.

The LCC said three people were killed early Friday in Homs and said two more were killed in Idlib province in the northwest and one in the Damascus suburbs.

The Observatory said another flashpoint central city, Hama, also came under assault in the early hours of Friday, with intense firing from heavy machine guns and loud explosions heard.

The Syrian National Council, the country’s biggest opposition umbrella group, on Friday condemned the offensives against opposition strongholds and said the group was in contact with members of the UN Security Council to press for strong condemnation of Syria.

The latest wave of the government’s crackdown, now in its 11th month, comes as the West tries to ride diplomatic momentum sparked by last weekend’s surprise call by the Arab League for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.