Refugees who managed to escape the ruined city of Homs say Syrian troops are kidnapping and executing unarmed civilians attempting to escape from the war-ravaged area. BBC reporter Paul Wood and cameraman Fred Scott filed this dispatch from Syria, which contains chilling tales of those who saw their relatives murdered by government troops. One woman says her 12-year-old son had his throat slit, while other unarmed men were beaten and shot to death. Witnesses say anyone caught at a checkpoint by security forces risks being kidnapped and murdered, no matter their age or affiliation with the uprising. 

Many of those refugees are now pouring into Lebanon, exporting the humanitarian crisis to another country that can't or won't handle the sick and starving Syrians. Within Syria, the Red Cross continues to be denied access to sick and wounded still in the Baba Amr section of the city. Officials say they are distributing blankets and food to those who have fled to other neighborhoods, but the government continues to restrict access to the hardest hit areas and seems determined to wipe and any all opposition, for as long as international groups continue to stand on the sidelines.

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Dashiell Bennett