Syrian forces on Saturday morning bombed for an hour the city of Homs on the third day of the cease-fire, according to a Syrian NGO. No casualties had been reported in the bombing of two districts there, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
In the months before the truce, Homs, the third largest city, was heavily bombed, including its symbol Baba Amr district where the rebels were entrenched and which was taken over by the army on March 1 after a month of destructive shelling. The cease-fire was fragile in the past two days and ended with the deaths of 18 people, mostly civilians.
Tens of thousands of Syrians demonstrated Friday across the country to test the regime's commitment to meeting the conditions of the peace plan presented by envoy Kofi Annan. These demonstrations were "larger than the previous weeks" in almost all provinces, despite a massive military deployment, according to the Observatory.
The army fired on demonstrators, killing four people across the country, and wounding 20 others Jassem, in the province of Deraa (south). In this city, shooting at demonstrators lasted two hours and at least five people were arrested, according to the Observatory.
Meanwhile, the 15 members of the UN Security Council were set to vote on Saturday in New York on a draft resolution authorizing the deployment of observers to monitor the cease-fire. The Russian vote is uncertain.
