Ultimatum Raises Fear of Bloodbath in Syria’s Homs

Troops Threaten to 'Bombard' City If Protests Continue

With deadly attacks on protesters continuing in the city of Homs, there are growing fears of a “bloodbath” in the offing after reports that the regime issued an ultimatum to the city.

The ultimatum, as reported by defector Lt. Col. Hamdo, was given by pro-regime forces on Saturday, and cautioned that if the pro-democracy protests did not end by Monday night, the city would have full-scale “bombardment” by the military.

Syria’s state media made no mention of such a deadline, but then they have also left that violence in Homs almost entirely uncovered, reporting only on the deaths of pro-regime forces and terming the opposition, as usual, “armed terrorist groups.”

Opposition figures claim that Homs has been virtually sealed off from the rest of the nation, and that electricity has been cut in some parts of the city. The city has been at the center of the opposition movement for months.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.