Heavy clashes raged between Syrian troops and rebels today, with at least 24 people killed nationwide, as the clock ticked down on a 30-day “final” extension of a troubled UN observer mission.
Activists reported fierce fighting in the country’s second city Aleppo, with regime forces shelling several
neighbourhoods, as at least seven people were reported dead in the capital, most killed by snipers.
The violence came a day after the Security Council voted unanimously to grant a “final” 30-day extension to the
UN Supervision Mission for Syria charged with overseeing a tattered peace plan.
Speaking in Croatia today, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply distressed by the rising death toll,” warning
that the limited extension of the UN mission showed “the onus is above all on the parties, with the Syrian government in the first place who must stop the killings.”
And French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Paris that it was time “for the opposition to get going and
take over the reins of the country.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fighting in several districts of Aleppo, including in the
central Salaheddin district.
Violent clashes are taking place between Syrian regime forces and rebel fighters in the Sakhur neighbourhood
and the Haydariya area,” it said, adding troops were “using heavy machineguns and artillery.”
The Local Coordination Committees — a grassroots activist network — reported “an exodus of residents from the
(Salaheddin) neighbourhood because of fear of regime bombardment and an offensive.”
In Damascus, residents said the city was largely calm after days of heavy clashes, although fighting was reported in Al-Hajar Al-Aswad and Tadamon districts and the Observatory said at least seven people were killed in the capital.
———————-(AFP)