Beirut (dpa) – New York-based pressure group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday accused Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Addad of using civilians as human shields in their offensive against pro-democracy activists. Witnesses in the northern province of Idlib cited by HRW said they saw the army and pro-government militias force people to march in front of soldiers during a recent offensive to take control of those areas. “The Syrian army should immediately stop this abhorrent practice,” said Ole Solvang, emergencies researcher at the group. HRW also published videos, obtained by the opposition, which showed people in civilian clothes walking in front of several armed soldiers and infantry fighting vehicles. Western leaders have already warned al-Assad that he could face prosecution by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes committed by his forces. Meanwhile, at least three people were killed and 10 others injured in fresh attacks on the province of Homs. “Shells rained down on the province of Homs especially on al-Khalidyeh and al-Kussair areas, killing three people and wounding 10 others,” Abu Raad, an activist based at the Lebanese-Syrian border told dpa. Black smoke and flames covered areas in Homs, which could be seen from the Lebanese territories, Abu Raad said. Since the early morning, security forces have shelled areas in the central province of Hama, after closing all roads leading to the al-Hamadiyeh region, activists said. In areas near Damascus the situation was reported by activists “as very tense” following overnight clashes between rebels and regular army units. Kurdish activist Mohamed Kotnah was found dead in the Hasaka province, northeastern Syria, after he was kidnapped Monday by unidentified gunmen, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “Mohamed Kotnah, nephew of Meshal Timo, head of the opposition Kurdish Future Party in Syria, was found killed in the town of Darbasiyeh, in Hasaka province,” the organization said. Timo, who was an outspoken anti-government critic, was assassinated in October on the hands of what was believed as followers of al-Assad. On the diplomatic front and following steps carried out by foreign and Arab countries earlier this year, Turkey announced it was closing its embassy in Syria. Turkey's state news agency, Anatolian, reported that any diplomats remaining in Damascus would return to Turkey within a short time. More than 8,000 people have been killed since unrest began in Syria a year ago, according to United Nations estimates. The surge of violence came as International peace envoy Kofi Annan headed to China after holding talks with Russian officials over the weekend to gather support for his mission to end the bloodbath in Syria. Annan's spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, was quoted as saying that the UN envoy had “very candid and comprehensive discussions” in Moscow. It was not clear whether Moscow would exert more pressure on al-Assad, its main ally in the region, to implement Annan's plan, which includes demands for a ceasefire, the immediate withdrawal of heavy armor from residential areas and access for humanitarian aid providers. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/vqfgK Tags: Assad, HRW, Human Shields, Syria, Violence Section: Features, Human Rights, Latest News, Levant, Syria
