(CNN) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross has been granted access to a detention facility in Syria for the first time since unrest broke out in the country, the committee's president said Monday after meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger called the breakthrough "an important step forward for our humanitarian activities in Syria." Kellenberger's meeting with al-Assad occurred amid mounting reports of bloodshed by Syrian security forces. On Monday, security forces killed six people during an ongoing crackdown in the province of Homs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group. The group also reported a similar offensive in Idlib province, where security forces entered with seven armored vehicles, nine cars and four buses. Seventy people were arrested in the operation, and dozens of homes were raided, the opposition group said.
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NEW: Arab League secretary general will travel to Damascus
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Red Cross president concludes meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
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The ICRC will be given access to government-held detainees, group's head says
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The organization is also trying to ensure the sick and wounded have access to medical care
The Arab League last week publicly called for restraint and an end to the violence in @placeholder.