• Syria: The fear of carnage to come

    Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

    Women and children endure wintry weather as they wait in line to buy bread in Al Qusayr, a city in western Syria about 3 miles from Homs, on March 1, 2012.

    By David R Arnott, NBC News

    A few miles from the the unfolding offensive in Homs, Syria, snow fell as people lined up outside a bakery in the town of Al Qusayr on Thursday morning. It was as close as most journalists were able to get to the besieged city, where two of their colleagues remained trapped alongside thousands of civilians after more than three weeks of steady government bombardment.

    Forces loyal to President Bashar Assad pounded the Babr Amr district of Homs on Thursday in what appeared to be a final push on the opposition stronghold, activists said. On Wednesday, a Syrian official heightened fears of greater carnage to come when he said the government would "cleanse" the area. 

    Opposition activists remained defiant.

    "Baba Amr will be the straw that will break the regime's back," Mohaimen al-Rumaid told Reuters from an area in Turkey near the Syrian border. "All of Syria is turning into Baba Amr." Read more.

    A guide with a cameraman shot video inside Homs, Syria showing evidence of continuing violence in the besieged city. ITN's John Irvine reports.      

    Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

    Men wait to buy bread in front of a bakery in Al Qusayr on March 1, 2012.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Free Syrian Army supporters chant anti-government slogans under snowfall on the outskirts of Idlib, northern Syria, late on Feb. 29, 2012.

     

  • Syrian resistance fights government as civilians flee and mourn deaths

    Bulent Kilic / AFP - Getty Images

    Syrian civilians flee following an attack in the centre of Idlib in northwestern Syria on Monday amid a deadly crackdown by the regime. More than 7,600 people have been killed in violence across Syria since anti-regime protests erupted in March 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A boy stands in from of a shop destroyed in Syrian Army shelling in the center of Idlib in northern Syria on Monday. European Union foreign ministers said Monday they were increasingly appalled by the Syrian government's ruthless campaign of repression against civilians, and imposed new sanctions in hopes of pressuring the regime to change course.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A woman holds her daughter on the balcony of her building damaged by Syrian Army bombings in central Idlib.

    Bulent Kilic / AFP - Getty Images

    Syrian mourners attend a funeral for victims killed in violence in Idlib in northwestern Syria.

    Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

    A boy holds a banner during a protest against Syrian President Bashar al Assad in Al Qusayr on Monday.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A Free Syrian Army fighter takes a position as the Syrian Army advances towards the town of Sarmin on Monday.

    Reuters reports that Syria approved a new constitution amid ongoing argument among foreign powers about arming rebels:

    The outside world has proved powerless to halt the killing in Syria, where repression of initially peaceful protests has spawned an armed insurrection by army deserters and others.

    Qatar joined Saudi Arabia in advocating arming Syrian rebels, given that Russia and China have twice used their vetoes to block any action by the U.N. Security Council.

    "I think we should do whatever is necessary to help them, including giving them weapons to defend themselves," Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said in Oslo.

    See more images from Syria in PhotoBlog.