Protests in #Syria have escalated intjavascript:void(0)o what some are calling a burgeoning civil war

Brian Gauspohl

5:33 PM  -  Public

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told a French news channel on Friday that France was also drafting a UN resolution designed to allow a larger observer force to be deployed in Syria with up to 500 #observers as well as #helicopters.

Assad Syrian France United Nations

Thousands of Syrians have crossed into Turkey since the unrest began [Reuters]

Protests in Syria have escalated into what some are calling a burgeoning civil war, and the United Nations says more than 9,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March last year. The government blames "terrorists" and "armed gangs" for the unrest and says more than 2,500 members of its security forces have been killed.

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2 hours 38 min ago - Syria

Government forces' continued shelling of the Syrian city of Homs has left some neighbourhoods unrecognisable.

Satellite images taken this Mach reveal a deserted city centre, destroyed areas and heavy deployment of tanks across the city.

This contracts to the images shot in August, which showed a busy city of around a million.

The latest imagery, commissioned by Al Jazeera, provides a snapshot of what appears to be an increasingly dire situation.

UN observers have so far asked to be allowed in Homs to provide an assessment, but the government has so far refused.

Al Jazeera's Steve Chao reports.

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Protests in Syria have escalated into what some are calling a burgeoning civil war, and the United Nations says more than 9000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March last year. The ...