A first team of Arab League observers landed in Syria late Monday, Dec 26, to monitor a deal to end nine months of deadly violence, as 30 people died in gunfire in and near the besieged central city of Homs.

CNN reported that members of the team were due to travel Tuesday to Homs, which has been a focal point of the government’s crackdown on anti-regime demonstrations and the site of fierce clashes between the army and deserters.

The mission is part of an Arab plan endorsed by Syria on November 2 that calls for the withdrawal of security forces from towns and residential districts, a halt to violence against civilians and the release of detainees.

Since signing the deal, President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has been accused of intensifying its crackdown, which has shown no signs of abating since it erupted in March and which the UN says has killed more than 5,000 people.

The private Dunya television channel, which is close to Assad’s regime, said: “A delegation of 50 observers arrived on Monday evening in Damascus”, adding that 10 team members were Egyptian.

General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, a veteran Sudanese military intelligence officer heading the Arab observer mission, had arrived in the Syrian capital on Sunday.

Syria’s opposition meanwhile urged United Nations and Arab League intervention as the spiral of violence continued.

Syrian National Council (SNC) head Burhan Ghaliun told reporters in Paris that some monitors were already in Homs “but they are saying they cannot go where the authorities do not want them to go.” A senior Arab League official stated that members of the observer delegation will go to Homs on Tuesday. Ghaliun urged UN and Arab League intervention “to put an end to this tragedy,” and called on the UN Security Council to “adopt the Arab League’s plan and ensure that it is applied,” AFP reported.