An oil pipeline in the central Syrian city of Homs has been attacked while regime troops stormed neighbourhoods in Hama, as President Assad announced a referendum for a new constitution on February 26.
The Local Coordination Committees (LCC) and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday the Homs pipeline was in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Baba Amr, which has been shelled by regime troops for the past 12 days.
The Observatory and the LCC also said that government forces launched a new operation on Wednesday in another flashpoint city, Hama, after telephone, cellular lines and internet connections were cut.
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"Loud explosions were heard in the neighbourhoods" of Hama, the Observatory said in a statement.
Video by Homs activists broadcast on social networking sites showed thick black smoke billowing from what appeared to be a residential area.
VOTE FOR NEW CONSTITUTION
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has decreed to hold a referendum for a new constitution on February 26, the official SANA state news agency reported on Wednesday.
"President Bashar al-Assad issued today a decree setting Sunday, February 26, as the date for the referendum on the draft constitution," SANA reported.
On Sunday, a commission tasked with drawing up a new constitution submitted a draft charter to Assad, SANA reported, adding he would review it and send it to the People's Assembly before a vote.
In January, Assad said a new constitution was being drawn up by a committee set up in October to replace the current one, which enshrines his Baath party's dominant role.
At the time, he said it could be put to a popular vote as early as March, although that date for the ballot has now been brought forward.
Syria's government lifted a state of emergency in April last year and in July adopted a law allowing a multi-party political system.
HOMS HARDEST HIT
Homs is home to one of Syria's two oil refineries. It has also been one of the cities hardest hit by President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on the popular uprising that began in March.
The uprising started out as mostly peaceful protests against Assad's authoritarian rule, but has become more militarised in the face of the regime's brutal crackdown.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay told the General Assembly this week that more than 5400 people were killed last year alone, and that the number of dead and injured continues to rise daily.
Syria's oil and gas pipelines have been attacked before during the 11-month uprising.
The state-run news agency, SANA, blamed "armed terrorists" for Wednesday's attack on the pipeline. It said the pipeline feeds the tankers in the Damascus suburb of Adra, which contribute in supplying petrol to the capital and southern regions.
Assad's regime has long blamed "terrorists" and foreign conspiracies for the country's crisis, not protesters seeking democratic reforms. The revolt began with peaceful calls for democratic change, but has been morphing into a bloody, armed insurgency.
Also on Wednesday, the Observatory reported that government troops were conducting raids in the Damascus suburb of Barzeh, detaining scores of people, as well as in the village of Ashaara in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.
