Syrian security forces killed 10 people in Homs on Thursday, activists said, and there was no sign yet of troops leaving cities under an Arab League agreement to end bloodshed after seven months of protests against President Bashar al-Assad. Syria, under mounting pressure to halt a crackdown that the United Nations says has killed over 3,000 people, agreed on Wednesday to an Arab League plan to pull the army out of cities, free political prisoners and hold talks with the opposition.
The authorities blame the violence on Islamist militants and armed gangs who they say have killed 1,100 soldiers and police. "We did not talk with the secretary-general about a dialogue with the regime," council member Samir Nashar was quoted by Egypt's MENA news agency as saying after the meeting.
Tanks fired heavy machineguns and anti-aircraft guns in that city's Bab Amro district, a hotbed of protests and scene of operations by the military against insurgents hiding there. Activists said at least 10 civilians had been killed in the bombardment of Bab Amro and in violence elsewhere in Homs, a central Syrian city of one million, where army snipers were shooting from rooftops and soldiers fired from checkpoints.
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