Syrian army makes advances in Old Homs: TV

The Syrian army advanced in the central city of Homs Friday, Al-Mayadeen television reported.
The government forces seized several buildings in Wadi Al-Sayeh, including St. George church, in the old quarter of the city called Old Homs, the television said.
Thursday, members of the U.N. Security Council expressed concern over the plight of civilians caught in the fighting in Old Homs, Joy Ogwu, the council’s president said, urging “the immediate implementation” of a February resolution to improve humanitarian access in Syria.
She said council members also stand behind a call made by UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi earlier in the day to resume negotiations to end the siege, mainly caused by foreign backed militant groups’ violence against government and civillians.
Syrian troops fought their way into militants-held neighborhoods of the central city of Homs on Tuesday after besieging them for nearly two years.
On Thursday, Security Council members held three hours of consultations after UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos outlined the situation in Homs.
“Civilians trapped are in real danger of being killed,” said Britain’s UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant.
He added that France and Britain had proposed a draft formal declaration by the council to call for Syrian government forces to lift the siege, but the council had failed to adopt it.
However, Syrian ambassador Bachar Jaafari told reporters that only 170 civilians were trapped in Homs, alongside thousands of terrorists, supported by West and some Arab regimes. He said the civilians refused to leave.
Homs is Syria’s third city and most of the central city is now under army troops’ control. Around 1,400 civilians were evacuated at the beginning of the year from Homs city.