Syrian troops shell central city of Homs

[March 26, 2012]  BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian troops shelled rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs on Monday with at least five people seriously wounded, while Turkey closed its embassy in Damascus and recalled its ambassador as relations between the former allies continue to deteriorate.

Activities at the embassy in the Syrian capital are being "temporarily suspended," but Turkey's consulate in Aleppo will remain operational, a brief statement posted on the embassy's website said Sunday night.

The embassy is being closed because of the poor security situation in Syria, a ministry official said on condition of anonymity in line with ministry regulations. The Turkish ambassador and other diplomats will be returning to Turkey, he said.

International condemnation and high-level diplomacy have failed to stop the year-old Syria crisis. The U.N. says more than 8,000 people have been killed, many of them civilians. In recent months, the uprising has transformed into an armed insurgency as army defectors and others say they want to bring down the regime by force.

The U.S., Europe, Turkey and many Arab states have called on President Bashar Assad to stand down, but Russia and China have protected Syria from condemnation by the United Nations Security Council. Syria is Moscow's last remaining ally in the Middle East and is a major customer for Russia's arms industry, but Russia has recently shown impatience with Assad.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees have been reporting shelling in Homs for days as Assad's forces appear to be preparing for an operation to retake rebel-held neighborhoods in Syria's third largest city.

The Observatory said that mortar bombardment of the central neighborhood of Warsheh seriously wounded five civilians.

Homs has been one of the cities hardest hit by the government crackdown on the uprising that began last March. Assad's forces overran the rebel-held Baba Amr neighborhood on March 1 but face resistance from other districts.

The Observatory also said that the body of activist Khalaf Mohammed al-Shab was found Sunday night hours after he was abducted near the predominantly Kurdish northeastern town of Derbasiyeh. Al-Shab was a nephew of late Kurdish leader Mashaal Tamo who was assassinated in October.

[Associated Press; By BASSEM MROUE]

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