Forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad killed dozens of people Saturday in Deraa and Homs amid an international outcry over signs of carnage in Mazraat Al-Qubeir where at least 80 people were killed this week. Seventeen people, including 10 women, were killed overnight by shelling in Deraa, where uprising against Assad erupted 15 months ago, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Fighting was also reported in Homs and Damascus, killing a total of 44 civilians and 25 on Friday, the group said, showing that neither side was respecting a UN-backed ceasefire, the failure of which has left outside powers divided on what to do next. “We didn't sleep all night, the situation is a mess, all kinds of explosions and heavy weapons,” a Deraa resident, said via Skype. “We could hear the blast from the rockets hitting in the neighborhood nearby. If we were afraid, you can imagine how afraid our children are.” Two massacres of civilians in the last two weeks have added urgency to talks between foreign powers on what to do since the ceasefire, supposed to take effect on April 12, has failed to stop the violence. Russia pushed its proposal for an international conference on Syria to include Iran, despite skepticism from the United States. Washington — which is in frequent, high-level contact with Moscow over the Syria crisis — opposes Russia's view that Assad's ally Iran should attend any such meeting. It accuses Iran of aiding the Syrian government and pro-Assad militia in putting down the uprising, something Tehran denies. Underlining the sectarian nature of the conflict, rebels holding 11 Lebanese pilgrims hostage said they would release the men when their country had established a new “civil state”, a video obtained by Al Jazeera television showed. “The guests will be released by the Syrian civil state when their case is reviewed by a new democratic parliament,” the rebels said in a written statement on the video in which the hostages appeared. Meanwhile, United Nations monitors are still working to understand what happened in the hamlet of Mazraat Al-Qubeir, where opposition activists say at least 78 people were massacred Wednesday. The monitors saw empty homes covered in blood and smelled burnt flesh when they visited the area Friday. Armored-vehicle tracks were visible in the vicinity and some homes were damaged by rockets from armored vehicles. Only the Syrian army has armored vehicles and heavy weapons. The incident happened two weeks after a massacre in the town of Houla, killing at least 108 men, women and children, which the United Nations said seemed to be the work of Syrian government forces and allied militias. In the capital Damascus, once a relatively safe Assad stronghold, loud explosions were heard overnight after residents reported some of the fiercest fighting between rebels and security forces in the city a day earlier.
