At Least 45 Rebels Killed in Ambush by Troops in Homs

Rebels Aiming to End Military Siege

At least 45 rebels fighters from four different brigades were killed today in a series of clashes in Homs, with the biggest toll coming during an ambush in a government-held district.

“They were killed as they tried to launch an operation to end the siege of Homs,” noted the pro-rebel Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The city remains divided between rebel and government-held areas, and activists have complained the rebel-held areas are struggling to get access to food.

Like other major cities where clashes have carried on for months and months, most of the population has long since fled, but there are estimates of “several thousand” civilians remaining in rebel-held districts.

Syria’s state media reported the biggest ambush, killing 37 rebels in one go, while several smaller incidents were reported throughout the day. There were no words of any military casualties in the fighting.

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.