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Syria conflict: Fierce battle for key town of Qusair | Syria conflict: Fierce battle for key town of Qusair |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Fighting has been raging in the western Syrian town of Qusair after government troops launched a major operation to seize the strategic rebel stronghold. | |
State media said the army had "restored security and stability" to most of the town - a claim denied by activists. | |
Lebanese militants are said to be involved - Hezbollah siding with the army, and Sunni gunmen with the rebels. | |
At least 50 people have reportedly been killed since Sunday. The fighting has spilled into Lebanon. | |
Several mortar rounds fired from Syria struck Lebanon's north-eastern town of Hermel on Sunday, Lebanon's National News Agency said. No casualties or major damage were reported. | |
The agency said that in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, at least five people were injured in clashes between supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebel backers. | |
In a separate development, the UK-based Oxfam aid agency warned that Jordan and Lebanon were in urgent need of help to support hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who had fled the fighting. | In a separate development, the UK-based Oxfam aid agency warned that Jordan and Lebanon were in urgent need of help to support hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who had fled the fighting. |
Oxfam said a combination of rising temperatures and poor sanitation posed increased health risks for the refugees. More than 100 cases of "Aleppo boil", a condition caused by a parasite, had been diagnosed in Lebanon in the past two weeks, it added. | |
'House-to-house' battles | 'House-to-house' battles |
Syrian troops on Sunday managed to secure most of Qusair and "eliminated large numbers of terrorists, most of them non-Syrians", the state-run Sana news agency reported. | Syrian troops on Sunday managed to secure most of Qusair and "eliminated large numbers of terrorists, most of them non-Syrians", the state-run Sana news agency reported. |
Military source quoted by the agency said dozens of rebels had surrendered and the army was now "pursuing the armed terrorist groups in some areas" of the town. | |
However the BBC's Jim Muir, monitoring developments from Lebanon, says reports on state TV were filmed from well outside Qusair and gave no sense that the town had fallen entirely to government forces. | |
Qusair resident and opposition activist Hadi Abdullah said government troops were engaging in house-to-house battles on Sunday, according to the Associated Press news agency. | |
"It's the heaviest [shelling] since the beginning of the revolution," he said, quoted by AP news agency. | "It's the heaviest [shelling] since the beginning of the revolution," he said, quoted by AP news agency. |
He also denied the government had made advances in the town. | |
UK-based activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 52 people had been killed in Qusair - 48 fighters and three civilians. | |
Unconfirmed reports in Lebanese media that a number of Hezbollah fighters had been killed in a rebel ambush. | |
The town - close to the border with Lebanon and with a population of 30,000 - has great strategic value. Controlling it would give the government access from the capital to the coast. For the rebels, holding Qusair means they can come and go from Lebanon. | |
It is not clear how many residents have fled, but the opposition National Coalition warned of an impending massacre and called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League. | |
In recent weeks the Syrian military has won back surrounding villages and countryside and has encircled Qusair in Homs province. | In recent weeks the Syrian military has won back surrounding villages and countryside and has encircled Qusair in Homs province. |
The UN said last week that the death toll in Syria had reached at least 80,000 since the conflict began in March 2011. | The UN said last week that the death toll in Syria had reached at least 80,000 since the conflict began in March 2011. |
Activists said the number could be as high as 120,000. | Activists said the number could be as high as 120,000. |