Summary Syria insurgents launched a surprise raid Sunday to retake a key district of central city of Homs.
DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syria insurgents launched a surprise dawn raid Sunday to retake a key district of the central city of Homs, as Islamists set up a religious council to administer rebel-held areas of the oil-rich east.
The assault on Baba Amr district came as UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres warned that the number of Syrian refugees, which has already passed the million mark, could double or triple by the end of the year.
Activists said the raid sparked fierce fighting on the ground and saw President Bashar al-Assad s forces call in air strikes in a bid to repulse the rebel fighters.
They said the attack was a bid to take pressure off other rebel-held areas following the launch last week of a widescale army offensive in Homs, which has been dubbed capital of the revolution against Assad s forces.
Regime troops seized Baba Amr from rebels just over a year ago after a bloody month-long siege that left the district in ruins and claimed hundreds of lives, including those of two foreign journalists.
"We announce the great victory battle to liberate neighbourhoods (controlled by the army), namely Baba Amr, and ease the pressure on our comrades and on besieged Homs districts," a rebel said in a video posted on the Internet.
Omar, an activist who is in touch with the insurgents, said rebels infiltrated Baba Amr under cover of darkness. "Those manning the army checkpoints barely had time to realise what was going on," he said.
The army later massed reinforcements around Baba Amr, Omar said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops sealed off several streets around Baba Amr amid shelling and clashes in the district, with air raids following hours later.
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said the "surprise" dawn assault came after troops had reduced their presence in Baba Amr to target other rebel-held districts.
