Syrian forces overrun opposition in rebel stronghold of Homs

BEIRUT —Syrian government forces overran an opposition stronghold in the central city of Homs on Thursday, raising concerns about the safety of the civilians still trapped there and exposing the limitations of the fledgling armed resistance movement that has sprung up to confront the Syrian regime in recent months.

Opposition activists in Homs said troops were moving through the Bab Amr neighborhood detaining all males older than 15 , even as world powers at the United Nations issued a nonbinding Security Council resolution calling for immediate humanitarian access to the stricken area.

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Civilians trappedby fighting in Homs

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Reports from Syria say government forces are advancing on the rebel-held area in Homs. The city has seen some of the most intense fighting in the Syrian uprising. (Feb. 29)

With all communications to Bab Amr severed, including satellite connections, it was difficult to ascertain exactly what was happening. But though the rebel Free Syrian Army cast the pullout as a tactical withdrawal, all the available evidence pointed to a rout of the fighters, who had seized control of the neighborhood months ago and turned it into a nationwide symbol of the burgeoning armed rebellion against the regime led by President Bashar al-Assad.

The speed with which Syrian forces seized control of the neighborhood — less than 36 hours — after a 27-day siege during which the area was subjected to almost-uninterrupted artillery bombardment, focused attention on the increasingly controversial question of whether outside powers should arm the Syrian opposition.

Col. Malik al-Kurdi, a Free Syrian Army spokesman reached by telephone in Turkey, appealed for weapons, saying that only the force of arms could bring down the Assad regime and protect the civilians who have been demonstrating for nearly a year to end four decades of Assad family rule. “Our light and limited weapons cannot confront the tanks and rockets of the regime,” Kurdi said.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have in recent days declared support for arming the Free Syrian Army. But the United States remains opposed, amid concerns about the nature of the deeply divided Syrian opposition and the risk of a regionwide conflagration should a full-scale civil war erupt.

The retreat from Bab Amr also called into question the capacity of the disorganized rebel movement to confront one of the region’s most powerful armies, even if weapons do begin to flow. The fighters are equipped only with Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades seized from the regular army or smuggled across Syria’s borders.

“The Free Syrian Army don’t have heavy weapons, and without them I’m not sure they can survive,” said Mulham Jundi, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council who is in hiding in Homs.

A statement issued by the Free Syrian Army said its fighters had withdrawn out of consideration for the welfare of the 4,000 civilians trapped in the neighborhood, and because they lacked sufficient weaponry to withstand a stepped-up ground offensive by the better-armed government troops.

In a statement posted on a Facebook page run by Bab Amr activists, the rebels cited dire conditions in the area and called on the Red Cross to be allowed to deliver humanitarian aid.