A/HRC/21/50 tanks located on its perimeter, resulting in the death of eight people. Ground forces are said to have entered the town, positioning snipers on the rooftops of public buildings, including at least one school. The commission received multiple, consistent reports of civilians, in particular children, being shot and killed by sniper fire in February during those events, but also in March and April 2012. Homs, Feb–May 2012 30. Government forces launched a large-scale military attack on the neighbourhood of Bab Amr in Homs city on 2 February 2012, using mortar shells, missiles and tank shells. Although Bab Amr had been targeted on previous occasions, the sustained intensity of this attack was unprecedented. The neighbourhood was considered a hotbed of anti-Government armed groups, particularly the FSA, which had a strong presence there until 2 March, the date on which Government forces reclaimed control of the neighbourhood after 27 days of sustained shelling. 31. During the same period the FSA engaged in limited skirmishes with Government forces on the outskirts of Bab Amr, especially in the nearby Insha‘at neighbourhood. Despite its lesser military capacities, the FSA was able to push Government forces back in some of the areas. 32. Government forces deployed to most access points in the area, thus severely restricting movement. At the time of writing, Bab Amr remained under the control of Government forces and was suffering a shortage of food and medical care. Much of the population fled the neighbourhood to surrounding villages and other neighbourhoods, including Khaldieh, Shammas and Al Ghouta, during the intense shelling periods throughout February 2012. 33. The commission recorded a high incidence of extra-judicial executions of civilians in various neighborhoods of the city of Homs since March 2012. Multiple accounts were received of the killing of the entire Sabbouh family in Bab Amr on 5 March. On 11 and 12 March 2012, the neighbourhood of Karm al-Zeytoun reportedly came under an attack by what was described as Shabbiha protected by the army. Multiple families were killed in their homes, apparently by knives or other sharp instruments. Estimates of casualties, unverified by the commission, ranged from 35 to 80 in that attack. 34. The commission found that hors de combat fighters were similarly killed. One man interviewed by the commission stated that he assisted in the burial of 15 bodies of fighting aged men that appeared to have been executed. Syrian security forces and Shabbiha reportedly removed adult men from houses in the neighbourhood of Sultaniya, before lining them up and shooting them. 35. Multiple, consistent reports have been received about extra-judicial executions of civilians in the Shammas neighbourhood in Homs on 15 May 2012. Shammas is approximately three kilometres from the Baba Amr neighbourhood. Residents describe members of the security forces and Shabbiha entering the area and shooting into the air before commencing house searches. One of those interviewed explained that the building opposite her house was abandoned and that security had broken in, transforming it into a ―slaughter house‖. She described how approximately every 15 minutes security forces would bring in a man handcuffed and blindfolded and that she would hear a shot shortly afterwards. The first man that was shot was dumped in the street. Another interviewee indicated that the following day he found 23 bodies, including the local imam, in a building near the mosque. Most had bullet wounds to the head. 36. Civilians were also killed, reportedly by sniper fire, in Homs, especially in the neighborhood of Bab Amr and Khaldiya, in March and April 2012. In these cases the 74