Syrian Regime Shells Homs Ahead of UN Visit

Syrian government forces have shelled the besieged city of Homs just hours before a team of UN observers visit Damascus.

Mortar bombs and machine guns were fired into the city's central Khaldiyeh and Bayada districts, residents told Sky News on Sunday, referring to Syrian activists.

Sky News quoted the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, as saying in an interview with AFP news agency that "the bombardment of Khaldiyeh intensified this morning with an average of three shells a minute".

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted on Saturday a draft resolution to send a group of unarmed observers to Syria to oversee the ceasefire.

The draft document that was supported by all the members of the UN Security Council, calls on the Syrian government to allow up to 30 international observers to be deployed in the country. It also urges an unimpeded freedom of movement for the observers and the ceasefire by all the parties involved in the conflict.

According to the document, the 30-strong mission may be subsequently expanded by 250 monitors.

The monitors' mission follows a six-point plan to resolve the current political crisis in Syria, proposed by UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan and approved by the UN Security Council.

The ceasefire that formally came into force on Thursday in Syria is a part of the international community's efforts to end a year of deadliest clashes between opposition and government forces that claimed over 9,000 lives, according to the UN estimates.

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