敘利亞活動人士稱支持政府的部隊進攻霍姆斯戰略要地

Syrian activists say forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are pushing to gain control in a strategically important section of the central city of Homs.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday the troops have taken over a large part of the Wadi al-Sayeh neighborhood, which sits between several rebel-controlled districts in center of the city.

The Observatory warned that if pro-Assad forces capture what it calls the city's "old neighborhoods," then there are fears that sectarian killings could follow.

Homs is Syria's third-largest city, located along a highway about halfway between the capital, Damascus, to the south and the commercial center of Aleppo to the north. It has been a key hub in the more than two-year-old uprising against Mr. Assad.敘利亞活動人士說，忠於總統阿薩德的部隊正在進攻奪取中部城市霍姆斯的一個戰略要地。

設在英國的敘利亞人權瞭望臺星期四說，政府軍已經攻佔瓦迪阿爾薩耶居民區的一大部分。這個在市中心的這個居民區四周連接若干反政府武裝控制的地區。

人權瞭望臺警告說，一旦忠於總統阿薩德的政府軍全部攻佔他們所說的這個城市“老區”，那就擔心可能會發生派別之間的殺戮。

霍姆斯是敘利亞第三大城市，扼守着位於南方的首都大馬士革和北方商業城市阿勒頗之間的公路，是咽喉要道。在兩年多以來的反抗阿薩德的戰鬥中，這個城市也是反政府軍的重要戰略據點。