Syrian army units attack rebel districts

Heavy fighting raged near Baba Amro in Homs on Wednesday after elite Syrian troops attacked the rebel-held bastion that has endured 25 days of siege and fierce bombardment, activists said. The Farouq Brigade of the Free Syrian Army was trying to hold off the assault led by units of the armoured Fourth Division, which is commanded by Maher al-Assad, the hard-line brother of President Bashar al-Assad.
"Pray for the Free Syrian Army. Do not be miserly in your prayers for them," the activists said in a statement. The rebels have sworn to fight to the last man, according to Ahmed, an activist who said he had just left Baba Amro. He said other opposition areas of Homs were also under attack but gave no details of casualties. "We call on all Syrians in other cities to move and do something to lift the pressure off Baba Amro and Homs. They should act quickly," Ahmed said, contacted via Skype.
However some activists said leaders of the Farouq Brigade had already left Baba Amro. Several Western journalists were trapped in the besieged Baba Amro district, although Syrian activists escorted British Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy to safety in nearby Lebanon on Tuesday in a messy escape in which some of his rescuers were killed.