Red Crescent aid center torched in Syria’s Homs

Author: 
Reuters
Publication Date: 
Wed, 2012-04-04 19:29

There were conflicting reports about what caused the fire.
Some activists said the building burst into flames after shelling on the neighborhood of Qarabees, which has seen intense clashes between the army and rebels during the year-long uprising against President Bashar Assad’s rule.
However a source close to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said unknown saboteurs set fire to the building, which had been a warehouse for a government company before being donated to the Red Crescent as an aid distribution center.
“Somebody set fire to that building. People knew what that building was, and what was in it,” the source said. “Sadly, the Red Crescent was supposed to do an aid distribution today.”
The International Red Cross negotiated for weeks with the Syrian government and rebels to ensure the Red Crescent - its local partner in Syria - could provide a steady supply of aid and medical care into violence-hit areas such as the district of Baba Amr.
The army drove the rebels from their Baba Amr last month after months of gun battles and heavy shelling.
 

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