Syria: 21 killed, 340 wounded in the latest bombardment of Homs

In this Monday, Feb. 20, 2012 citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012, houses are seen destroyed from Syrian government forces shelling, at Baba Amr neighborhood in Homs province, Syria. An opposition group says several people have been killed in heavy shelling of a district in central Syria a day after the army sent reinforcements ahead of a possible ground assault. (AP Photo)

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces killed 21 people and wounded some 340 on Tuesday when they unleashed a heavy artillery barrage on a rebel-held district of the city of Homs, activists said.

The bombardment rained down as International Committee of the Red Cross officials tried to negotiate a pause in the fighting to allow them to bring aid to civilians suffering in horrendous conditions after 18 days of attacks on Homs.

In Damascus, security forces opened fire on demonstrators overnight, wounding at least four, activists said, in the latest sign that the 11-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad is taking a grip on the capital as well as the provinces.

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