Syria's nonviolent opposition aligns with armed groups

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

All eyes on Syria are trained on the city of Homs, particularly the neighborhood of Baba Amr, as residents and the international community both await a crushing full-scale Syrian Army assault that seems imminent.

The Syrian Army claims to have already taken Baba Amr, which has been the most heavily targeted part of Homs in the almost month-long assault of the city. Yesterday government officials said they were “mopping up” pockets of resistance in the area, BBC reports. However, members of the opposition say the Free Syrian Army (FSA), an armed faction of the opposition, repelled regime forces from the neighborhood. 

The New York Times reports, based off conversations with Homs civilians and members of the opposition there, that the long-expected ground assault on Baba Amr has not yet begun. But with the disappearance of checkpoints surrounding the neighborhood and the arrival of additional tanks just outside, most expect it to begin at any time.

“It was a very aggressive attack on Baba Amr today,” Mulham al-Jundi, an activist in a nearby neighborhood, said Wednesday. He said he doubted the army would enter Baba Amr with tanks. “I don’t think they want to enter it anyway; they want to destroy it completely by shelling it from adjacent villages and neighborhoods.

Snipers deployed on buildings were picking off anyone who moved along the streets, he said, so it was impossible to assess how many people were left. Moving into and out of the neighborhood meant courting death, he added. “The humanitarian situation is really bad,” Mr. Jundi said, referring to the entire city. Multiple neighborhoods have lost their electricity completely in recent days. Activists in Baba Amr say they have been using badly needed fuel to refrigerate the bodies of Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik, two Western journalists killed there last week.

After months of conflict within the opposition over whether to link the FSA with the Syrian National Council, the umbrella group representing the unarmed factions of the opposition, the council announced it had formed a military bureau to coordinate with the rebel army, BBC reports.

"The Syrian revolution began as a non-violent movement and has maintained its peaceful nature for months. The situation has changed and the SNC will shoulder its responsibilities in light of this new-found reality," the council said in a statement.

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