Syrian opposition groups have warned of an impending massacre after being given a deadline by the regime to stop all demonstrations in the city of Homs.
The deadline, which falls on Monday night, would require all protesters to stop demonstrations, hand over any weapons, and surrender military members who have defected.
The Syrian National Council warned that the deadline could result in a bloodbath.
“Evidence received from reports, videos, and information obtained by activists on the ground in Homs indicate that the regime is paving the way to commit a massacre in order to extinguish the revolution in Homs and to discipline, by example, other Syrian cities that have joined the revolution,” the council said on Friday.
According to SNC, pro-regime troops are building up around the city and have established over 60 checkpoints.
The Syrian Local Coordination Committed reported that 23 people, including five children, were killed across several cities on Sunday alone. Some 4,000 people the United Nations estimates have died in a crackdown against anti-government protests, which began in March.
The LCC continues to post cellphone videos of mass protests and violence, virtually the only way that images and news from Syria have made it out. All foreign media is banned in Syria.
Israeli President Shimon Peres told CNN that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the deaths.
“The world decided—including the Arab world—to intervene when a leader is beginning to kill his own citizens,” Peres told CNN.
The Arab League is set to meet in Cairo later this week to discuss the situation in Syria. The league has already expelled Syria and placed economic and political sanctions on the country.
Damascus has continually blamed “armed terrorist gangs” for the violence, and is appealing to the international community to prevent weapons from entering Syria.
“We are appealing to the outside world and our brothers in the Arab world to help Syria [prevent the] channeling [of] weapons” into the country, foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi said on Friday, according to Egypt’s Ahram Online.
