HOMS, Syria - Assad forces try to bomb Homs into submission [View all]

[tabatha]

(Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces rained rockets and bombs down on opposition-held neighborhoods of the city of Homs on Wednesday, reducing buildings to rubble and killing more than 80 people, including two Western journalists.

The barrages marked an intensification of a nearly three-week offensive to crush resistance in Homs, one of the focal points of a nationwide uprising against Assad's 11-year rule, and prompted further international condemnation.

More than 60 bodies, both rebel fighters and civilians, were recovered from one area of Homs' Babo Amro neighborhood after an afternoon bombardment, adding to 21 killed earlier in the day, activists said.

"Helicopters flew reconnaissance overhead then the bombardment started," Homs activist Abu Abei told Reuters.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/22/us-syria-idUSL5E8DB0BH20120222