Saturday 27 July 2013

Syrian troops capture historic mosque in Homs

BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian state media says government forces have captured a historic mosque that has been under rebel control for more than a year in the central city of Homs.
State TV quotes an unnamed military official as saying that troops took control Saturday of the 13th-century mosque of Khalid Ibn al-Walid in the heavily disputed northern neighborhood of Khaldiyeh.The mosque is famous for its nine domes and two minarets. It has been a symbol for rebels in the city that is known as "the capital of the revolution."
On Monday, government troops shelled the mosque, damaging the tomb of Ibn al-Walid, a revered figure in Islam.

Government troops launched an offensive on rebel-held areas in Homs late last month and have been pushing into Khaldiyeh and nearby neighborhoods.


Regime forces backed by Hezbollah now control half of the Khaldiyeh district of Homs after ousting rebels in fierce fighting in the central Syrian city, a watchdog said on Saturday.

"Loyalist forces backed by fighters from Hezbollah have advanced over the last 24 hours and now control 50 percent of Khaldiyeh," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Its chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP on Saturday that overnight, "there was continuous heavy mortar and artillery fire" and that the rebel district was still being pounded.

He said rebels were putting up "fierce resistance" amid "very intense clashes".

Militant network the Syrian Revolution General Commission also reported heavy fighting in the district that has been besieged by regime forces for more than a year.

"Khaldiyeh is being targeted by an uninterrupted heavy bombardment, and on the ground there is fierce fighting between Free Syrian Army fighters and regime forces backed by Lebanon s Hezbollah trying to take the district," an SRGC statement said.

It and the Observatory both said the Old City district of Homs -- dubbed the "capital of the revolution" against President Bashar al-Assad -- was being pummelled too.

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