As Reuters today reports
Syrian forces bombarded districts of the city of Homs in their drive to crush a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad...
"Tens of shabbiha (militiamen loyal to Assad) along with army snipers and two tanks have deployed at the citadel and they are bombarding Old Homs with mortar rounds and anti-aircraft guns," activist Malek Mohammad said by satellite phone from the city, 140 km (88 miles) north of Damascus
I was alerted just a bit ago to a
tweeter from Homs, Syria. Some of the tweets are in English, some in Arabic. I thought I would run a few of the Arabic ones through Google's Arabic to English translation tool and see what I could make of them. The results are below in most recent to least recent chronological order. The ones without attribution are the ones run through the tool, the attributed ones are originally in English.
I have no idea whether the tweets are legitimate, but no reason to believe they aren't. They seem to tell a tale consistent with what little we can find out from main stream news stories.
It's a battle of freedom going on in Syria. I am a little soldier in it from the living heart of Syria, Homs .
mobile phones cut off until the moment for the entire city of Homs since Sunday
Today some people are also able to get out of Homs, but according to what I learned is still forbidden access to the city through portlets regular
what is happening from theft and looting of the gangs of Al-Assad for homes construction in Homs district
Homs "calm" relative control of the Homs now after a day full of bombing and bullets that did not stop I do not think that this calm will last much
Samsom homs @Samsomhoms Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
i could finally got some bread for me & family here in #Homs not much i got it with 75 #Syrian pound while it's 40 normally #Syria
Samsom homs @Samsomhoms Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Do not dwell on the martyrs and the hungry-there are hundreds of injured here in #Homs who need immediate medical attention #Syria
Samsom homs @Samsomhoms Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
WE ARE RUN OUT OF FOOD WE ARE RUN OUT OF MEDICATIONS WE ARE SUFFERING HERE IN #HOMS SHAME ON YOU #WORLD #SYRIA
You almost certainly know of the bloodbath that is going in Syria daily, and the failure of the Arab League observers to have any effect.
You may also be aware that there is no indication that the revolt against Assad or Assad's bloody attempts to squash the rebellion show any signs of letting up.
A very recent CNN report on Syrian army attacks and recent protests:
At what level of slaughter does humanity -- with or without Russia and China -- decide that they must intervene? Or is the cure in this case unfailingly worse than the disease, regardless of the level of brutality in Syria? I certainly have no answer.
8:40 PM PT: Update from comments: US Embassy in Syria twitter account
9:04 PM PT: Update from comments: Al Jazeera live blog
9:06 PM PT: