Women and children “slaughtered” in Syria violence

Summary of story from Time, January 27, 2012

At least 30 people were killed in the besieged Syrian city of Homs yesterday, including a family of women and children.

Forces loyal to President Bashar Assad pounded residential buildings in the Karm el-Zaytoun district with mortars and machine-gun fire.

Some residents reported that a massacre took place when armed regime loyalists stormed the district, “slaughtering” residents in an apartment, including children.

A video posted online, which has not been independently verified, showed the bloodied bodies of five small children, five women of varying ages and a man, piled on beds.

The bodies appear to be in an apartment, in a building damaged by military fire.

The violence in Homs kicked off with a spate of sectarian kidnappings and killings.

Some Karm el-Zaytoun residents said that kidnappers were holding Alawites – members of a Shiite sect to which President Assad belongs, and which is the “backbone” of his regime – in the building hit by mortars and gunfire. The reports, however, could not be confirmed.

Today heavy gunfire continued in Homs, which has seen some of the heaviest violence of the 10-month-old uprising against Assad’s rule.

The UN Security Council was to hold a closed-door meeting today to discuss plans for a possible resolution against the Damascus regime.