Zeenews Bureau
Beirut: Syrian government forces on Monday launched a fierce offensive against the opposition in Homs province and towns of Qusair, Talbiseh and Rastan in central Syria.
President Bashar al-Assad`s forces used artillery, helicopter gunships, mortars, rockets to attack the opposition strongholds. Reports suggest that around 50 people have been killed in today’s attack.
Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League joint special envoy for Syria in a statement said that violence has increased in recent times with both Assad’s forces and opposition breaking the UN brokered ceasefire.
Annan had earlier said that his six-point peace plan to end the Middle East country`s 16-month crisis had not been implemented, a news agency reported.
The plan is widely backed by the international community and officially accepted by the Syrian government.
His peace plan calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centres, a daily halt in fighting for the delivery of humanitarian aid and treatment for the wounded, as well as talks between the government and the opposition.
The former UN secretary-general had met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad late in May to discuss the country`s situation.
The US, at a Friends of Syria meeting in Istanbul on Wednesday, called on members of the international community to introduce separate sanctions against the al-Assad regime to step up pressure on the country`s leadership.
