Homs Under Fire as Assad Denies Use of Barrel Bombs

Activist media in Homs said several residential buildings in the city came under fire on February 10. The strikes came on the same day the BBC broadcast an interview with Bashar al-Assad in which he denied the use of barrel bombs by the Syrian Army. Assad said civilian casualties had been rare in the conflict. “That happened from time to time, and some people were punished,” he said.

The Syrian Media Center in the al Waer district of Homs, a rebel holdout, shared this video after posting reports of helicopters flying overhead and “tank shells” targeting neighborhoods in Homs. The reports were echoed by other local activist groups, including the Homs Media Center, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCCSY) and Syrian Revolution. The LLCSY said the strikes were centred on al Waer. The Syria News Agency reported that over a dozen were wounded in the attack. Credit: YouTube/حمص المركز الإعلامي السوري