Assad mortars hit al-Waer, meeting with Russians not fruitful

Assad regime continued on Tuesday targeting the besieged neighborhood of al-Waer, while a meeting which took place yesterday between a Russian delegation and a committee from the neighborhood was not fruitful.

“Assad regime has been targeting al-Waer with mortar shells since the early hours of dawn,” Orient News correspondent Saifullah al-Ahmad said.

Saifullah also said that a meeting which was held between a local committee from al-Waer and a Russian delegation did not result in any easing in the bombardment or any guarantees for a cessation of hostilities.

Russians will send an agreement draft to al-Waer committee to consider, our correspondent added, pointing out that this draft is a new draft that was not presented in the meeting yesterday. A following meeting would be held with the Russian officials to decide on the draft.

Yesterday’s meeting was held inside the regime-controlled automated bakery, adjacent to al-Waer neighborhood, Homs Media Center (HMC) said. During the meeting, which lasted for two hours, al-Waer committee clarified a number of issues to the Russians, including how Assad regime aborted the previous agreement and turned down all initiatives that aimed to make it live on.

The committee also explained more about how Assad regime used the attacks on its security branches in Homs as a pretext to escalate shelling and bombardment on al-Waer, trying to force residents to flee to liberated areas in Homs countryside, HMC added.

A committee formed from residents form al-Waer was expected on Monday to meet a Russian delegation near the automated bakery checkpoint on the outskirts of the neighborhood to discuss ways to de-escalate attacks.