Shelled night and day, mined from below and continually rocked by artillery attack, Verdun's attritional intensity and importance were unequalled.
It had been opened to those fleeing the fighting, and thousands had crowded in, eyewitnesses said, only to be shelled this afternoon.
Mohamed, a rebel spokesman whose full name was withheld to protect his family, said that his 92-year-old father and a cousin were killed, along with 32 others, in shelling Saturday night and that 8 more people had been killed on Sunday night.
"Russian aircraft and regime helicopters have been shelling us night and day.
Tanks started shelling the town this morning, Snipers are taking part in the operation too.
"They attacked the town this morning, shelling and shooting randomly at people," said a resident in Homs, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.
We passed by a newspaper building, but it had been shelled the night before, hit either by tanks or by heavy artillery.
An AFP photographer in the frontline Azeri town of Terter said both sides stopped shelling on Tuesday afternoon after a night of sporadic artillery fire.
It reached 99 degrees on the heat index here in Hempstead, according to the Weather Channel, but the Jets practiced for two hours in full pads in the morning and were in shorts and shells this afternoon.
Army officials vowed to rout the militants, and their forces continued shelling through the night and into the morning on Friday, General Sultan said.
