'We've been maimed for life': Victims of Syrian security crackdown show horrific injuries inflicted by Assad's forces

• Arab League pledges to aid opposition battling to overthrow Assad
• Foreign Ministers meet in Cairo and approve resolution
• Not clear if joint U.N.-Arab peacekeeping force will include armed troops
• William Hague: 'Plans to send joint UN and Arab League peacekeeping force into Syria must be discussed 'urgently'
• Adds that Western troops should NOT be on the ground at all
  
• 23 killed yesterday as bloodshed continues
  

By Lee Moran and Graham Smith

Last updated at 5:05 PM on 13th February 2012

Covering their faces to conceal their identity, these Syrian men show appalling injuries they claim were inflicted on them by the country's security forces.

All five men have undergone reconstructive surgeries at Red Crescent Hospital in Amman.

The horrific images of their injuries were taken today and show the human cost of President Bashar Assad's ongoing brutal military crackdown against opposition.

Doctors said they are treating dozens of young Syrians injured during the violence at a hospital run by Paris-based Medecins Sans Frontieres in Amman.

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Victims: Covering their faces to conceal their identity, these Syrian men today show the appalling injuries they claim were inflicted on them by the country's security forces

Maimed: All five men have undergone reconstructive surgeries at Red Crescent Hospital in Amman

The mutilated men posed for photos as Syrian forces spent another day continuing to rain bombs on the city of Homs - the day after another 23 civilians were killed.

Tanks fired rockets on two large Sunni Muslim neighbourhoods this morning, as attacks carried on into a second week.

The continued bloodshed led Arab League foreign ministers to pledge for the first time to aid the opposition 'with all forms of political and material support' to overthrow Assad.

And British Foreign Secretary William Hague said plans to send a joint UN and League peacekeeping force in to Syria, once Assad stops his crackdown, must be discussed 'urgently'.

At yesterday's meeting in Cairo, Arab League foreign ministers vowed to aid the opposition battling to overthrow Assad and called on the UN Security Council to authorise a peacekeeping force.

They approved a resolution calling for 'opening communication channels with the Syrian opposition and providing all forms of political and material support to it'.

Scars: Doctors said they are treating dozens of young Syrians injured during the violence at a hospital run by Paris-based Medecins Sans Frontieres in Amman

Horrific: The images show the human cost of President Bashar Assad's ongoing brutal military crackdown against opposition

It is seen as a remarkable statement from a body, which has turned against Assad because of its resentment of his ties to Iran, which was once known for keeping out of the internal affairs of its members.

It is not clear whether its proposed joint U.N.-Arab peacekeeping force would involve armed troops, or whether the aid offered to the opposition would include weapons.        

If so, it would be the second time in less than a year the Arab League had called for outside intervention in an Arab state.

Its decision to back a no-fly zone in Libya last March led to Western bombing that helped bring down Muammar Gaddafi.

William Hague, speaking after yesterday's meeting, said he welcomed the formation of the Group of Friends of Syria, which is expected to include exiled opposition leaders.

He said: 'Such a mission could have an important role to play in saving lives, providing the Assad regime ends the violence against civilians, withdraws its forces from towns and cities and establishes a credible ceasefire.'

He added that 'significant steps' were taken at the meeting to increase the 'diplomatic and economic isolation' faced by the Syrian regime.

Attack: Syrian forces today continued to rain bombs on the city of Homs as President Assad continues his crackdown on opposition

Plea: A young girl, holding her doll, tells the world what she thinks of President Bashar Assad during a demonstration yesterday

Opposition: Armed Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters march through the streets of Idlib today

And he said the UK would play a 'very active part' in the new Group of Friends of Syria, which has been established to increase political and financial support to opposition leaders in Syria. The group will meet again on February 24.

Mr Hague added: 'President Assad must be in no doubt of the determination of his neighbours and the international community to bring an end to the violence in Syria.

'The Arab League could not have sent a clearer message to Syria than the one it sent yesterday and we look forward to working closely with them in the coming days and weeks.'

And he added today that any peacekeeping troops in Syria should come from non-Western countries.   

He said: 'I don’t see the way forward in Syria as being Western boots on the ground in any form, including in any peacekeeping form.

'I think they would need to come from other countries, rather than Western nations. Of course, if such a concept can be made viable, we will be supporting it in all the usual ways.'

Mass movement: Demonstrators gather to protest against President Assad in Hula, near Homs

No end in sight: Black smoke rises in the Baba Amr district of Homs

Injured: Rebels retreat after being hit with fire from army troops in Homs

Another victim: The dead body of a rebel is carried through the streets of Homs

Critical: British Foreign Secretary William Hague said plans to send a joint UN and League peacekeeping force in to Syria, once Assad stops the crackdown, must be discussed 'urgently'

In Homs yesterday, government troops concentrated their fire on Baba Amro in the south of the city and al-Waer in the West, which borders the Military College, a main assembly point for tanks and government troops, opposition campaigners said.         

Activist Mohammad al-Hassan said: 'Tank shelling has been non-stop on Baba Amro and the bombardment on al-Wear began overnight.'

He said al-Waer, scene of large pro-democracy demonstrations for months, had come under attack in the last several days from pro-Assad militia known as shabbiha. 

And he added: 'We heard the Free Syrian Army has started responding by attacking roadblocks being manned by shabbiha. Communications with al-Waer have been cut off and the sound of shelling can be now heard.'

The Free Syrian Army, led by defectors, has taken the main role in armed opposition to Assad's government.     

Syria's uprising, in which the United Nations says more than 5,000 people have died, has become one of the bloodiest of the Arab Spring revolts sweeping the region since the end of 2010.     

Any peacekeeping mission would require consensus from foreign powers, who have been divided on how to resolve a conflict that is descending into a civil war.

Moscow and Beijing drew strong criticism from the West after they prevented the Security Council from backing an Arab plan that called for Assad to give up his powers.

However, Western powers so far have shown no appetite for military action, despite their condemnation of the repression of the uprising.

Shelling: In this online video, tanks fire in the Baba Amro neighbourhood in the flashpoint city of Homs

Cowering: A group of blood-spattered children, with bandages on their heads, hide in the basement of a Homs home trying to avoid being caught in the bombardment

Syria called the League's resolution 'a flagrant departure from the group's charter and a hostile act that targets Syria's security and stability'.

Assad's government says it is fighting an insurgency by militants funded from abroad, and Arab states have turned against it as part of a regional power grab.            

At the UN, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson said he supported the 'efforts of the League of Arab States to stop the violence in Syria and to seek a peaceful resolution of the crisis that meets the democratic and legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people'.

Earlier yesterday, Tunisia said it would host the first meeting on February 24 of a 'Friends of Syria' contact group made up of Arab and other states and backed by the West.

A similar Libya contact group played a vital role in coordinating Western and Arab aid to that country's rebels last year.  

Bloodshed: More than 300 people including this man have died in Homs in the past week

Panic: Citizens flee as a home in Homs is set on fire after being hit by a rocket

Victim: A woman in Homs, where activists say they are 'all going to die', stares vacantly after she was injured by Syrian troops