Humanitarian Conditions Worsen in Homs as Siege Continues

As residents of the beseiged Homs district of Bab Amr lined up outside with buckets in a desperate attempt to reap drinking water from the slight snowfall, the government continued to attack the opposition stronghold to only worsen its humanitarian conditions.

Witnesses say Bab Amr is surrounded by government forces as they continued to shell residential areas using heavy tanks and rockets for the 27th day in a row.

Some activists say opposition fighters have been withdrawing from the district as a "tactical retreat". They said they were running out of
weapons and humanitarian conditions were catastrophic.


Meanwhile, the Syrian Red Crescent has been denied passage into Bab Amr to help deliver much needed aid to residents.

Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee reports.