Syria: 106 reportedly dead in another Homs massacre, Ban Ki-moon says Syria is in “death spiral” (UPDATE)
A view of a deserted street strewn with debris in the restive city of Homs, some 160kms north of the Syrian capital Damascus on February 25, 2012. China called for an end to violence in Syria on March 4, 2012, as the regime of Bashar al-Assad sparked international outrage by blocking aid from reaching the battered Baba Amr flashpoint in Homs city. -/AFP/Getty Images
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said that Syria is in a "death spiral." He made the warning at a speech at Stanford University, Al Jazeera reported.
"You have seen the tragedy play out on your television screens," Ban said. "Syria is in a death spiral."
The news comes as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, says that forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad killed 106 people in the city of Homs this week, the Guardian reported. Though the report has not been independently confirmed yet, BBC News also visited the scene and says it found evidence that at least 100 people were killed and burned in their homes.
The monitoring group, meanwhile, says that the forces attacked Basatin al-Hasawiya, a poor district on the edge of town, shooting and stabbing victims or burning them in their homes, Reuters reported.
"The Observatory has the names of 14 members of one family, including three children, and information on other families who were completely killed, including one of 32 people," Rami Abdelrahman, head of the group, said, according to Reuters.