Syrian forces killed at least two people and injured 20 in Homs earlier today during the heaviest raids on the city since troops deployed there two months ago to crush dissent against President Bashar al-Assad. The armor and tank-backed assaults on Homs came just a day after the authorities held what it described as a “national dialogue” meeting in Damascus. Opposition groups boycotted the meeting, saying they would not participate without an end to the crackdown. Tayeb Tazini is a spokesperson for the Syrian opposition.

Tayeb Tazini: “The first condition for a country in Syria’s current position should be to declare a ban on the use of weapons on any Syrians. But even until this point, bullets are being fired in Homs, Hama and others. I hoped this would have come to a stop by now. It should not be allowed for any of the parties involved to continue the use of weapons. We want to build a new Syria.”