Al-Waer: Russians threaten locals with death or displacement

Assad terrorists targeted on Friday (March 10) al-Waer neighborhood in Homs after the fifth round of negotiations between representatives of the neighborhood and Russia faltered.

Activists reported that Assad terrorists, stationed on the outskirts of al-Waer, targeted residential buildings in the neighborhood with a number of explosive cylinders and mortar shells, which led to casualties among civilians.

The Assad assault comes after the negotiating committee for the neighborhood concluded its fifth meeting with the Russian side in an area near the regime-controlled automated bakery, adjacent to al-Waer neighborhood, in which they discussed the "ceasefire" agreement.

Osama Abu Zeid, director of Homs Media Center, told Orient Net that the Russian side held on to the military option and threatened to exterminate the people, if they did not adhere to the options of "exit or settlement."

Abu Zeid pointed out that al-Waer delegation was made up of civilians from all walks of life who confirmed that all of the fighters are sons of the neighborhood, who carried arms to defend the civilians of the neighborhood from the assaults of Assad terrorists and their allied Shiite militias.

Sources keeping up with the progress of the negotiations had confirmed earlier to Orient Net that the Russian delegation put forward during the fourth meeting with al-Waer negotiating delegation three scenarios to resolve the fighting in the neighborhood. The three options are either “dying by bombing and starvation,” negotiating under Assad control, or the displacing the fighters with their families towards Syria’s northern territories.

Sources pointed out that the negotiating committee was looking into the third option which entails the departure of the fighters towards either Jarablus city – located in the northern countryside of Aleppo, which was recently liberated by the Operation Euphrates Shield – or Idlib province.

Assad regime aims at displacing all the fighters of al-Waer neighborhood – along with their families – towards northern Syria to reoccupy the district, which is considered to be the last stronghold of the opposition in the city of Homs. The displacement is, if its takes place, will be in a repeated scenario of Assad-implemented forced displacement policy in the cities of Damascus countryside and the eastern enclave of Aleppo.