Residents of Old Homs Send Distress Calls

Press Release

Syrian Coalition

April 16, 2014

Locals from the besieged Old Homs district sent a distress signal early today calling on the United Nations to force the Assad regime to stop the indiscriminate shelling and implement Security Council resolution no. 2139. The resolution “calls upon all parties to immediately lift the sieges of populated areas.”

Activists from the area confirmed Assad’s forces have intensified the shelling while the blockade of basic foods and medicine continues in defiance of UNSC resolution 2139.

In stark violation of international humanitarian law, Assad’s forces continues to lay sieges on a number of areas across Syria, including Old Homs, which has been under siege for more than 600 days.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued early today a statement condemning “the intensified bombing of the city of Homs, which has been besieged for several months and where the situation is tragic.”

We call on the United Nations and core 11 of the Friends of Syria to push for the immediate implementation of all clauses and terms of the UNSC Resolution 2139 regarding the safety and protection of all civilians and lifting the sieges imposed on neighborhoods and towns. The resolution, among other demands, called “on all parties to enable the rapid, safe and unhindered evacuation of all civilians who wish to leave.”