From May 2011 – May 2014, the city was under siege by the Syrian Army and security forces. The Syrian government claims it is targeting "armed gangs" and "terrorists" in the area. According to the Syrian opposition, Homs has since become a "blighted city," where authorities regularly block deliveries of medicine, food and fuel to the inhabitants of certain districts. By June, there were near-daily confrontations between protesting residents and Syrian forces. As a result of these circumstances, there have been more deaths in Homs and its vicinity than in other areas of Syria. Homs was the first Syrian city where images of al-Assad and his family were routinely torn down or defaced and the first place where Syrian forces used artillery during the uprising. The Center for Documenting Violations in Syria claims that at least 1,770 people have been killed in Homs since the uprising began.