Deadly fight in Syria, UN ends mission
21 Aug 2012 4:06 PM IST
Deadly fighting rocked the birthplace of the Syrian uprising on Monday as rebels doggedly resisted a regime onslaught unleashed in the key battleground of Aleppo a month ago, activists said.
At least 44 people were killed, including two children in shelling in Daraa, the cradle of the revolution in the south of Syria, a watchdog said, as the United Nations brought an end to its troubled observer mission in the country.
New international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who has said he is not confident of being able to restore peace, warned yesterday that it was now a matter of ending rather than avoiding a civil war after 17 months of bloodshed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported continued fighting on the second day of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday celebrated by Muslims around the world to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
It said clashes erupted between rebels and government troops in Daraa after several areas were shelled, killing 15 people, including two children.
Government forces using combat helicopters, tanks and heavy artillery have also been carrying out 'savage' attacks on Herak, the opposition Syrian National Council said, warning of a humanitarian catastrophe as supplies of food and medicines run out. Fighting also flared in several southern parts of Damascus as the army battles persistent pockets of resistance despite claiming it had retaken most of the capital last month.
The Observatory said troops backed by helicopters also pounded several areas of the northern city of Aleppo, including the Salaheddin neighbourhood where much of the regime’s military operations against the rebels have been focused.
The commercial capital has emerged as the epicentre of the conflict since rebels seized large swathes of the city in an offensive launched on 20 July. Government officials have said it will be the ‘mother of all battles’.
Fighting was also reported near the city’s military tribunal and the local headquarters of the ruling Baath party, the watchdog said.
The unrelenting violence saw demonstrators take to the streets of the capital and other cities on Sunday to vent their rage at President Bashar al-Assad, as he made a rare public appearance for Eid prayers.
UN observers wound up their troubled mission at midnight on Sunday amid a failure by world powers to agree how to respond to Assad’s crackdown and bring peace to the strategic Middle East state.
Created by a UN Security Council resolution adopted in April, the team of some 300 observers was progressively deployed as part of then UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point plan to end the conflict.
Much of its operations in the field were suspended in June and its numbers cut back in the face of the mounting violence, as both sides violated a ceasefire that was meant to have been the cornerstone of Annan’s plan.
The end of the mission came just days after the veteran Algerian diplomat Brahimi was named to replace Annan.
At least 44 people were killed, including two children in shelling in Daraa, the cradle of the revolution in the south of Syria, a watchdog said, as the United Nations brought an end to its troubled observer mission in the country.
New international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who has said he is not confident of being able to restore peace, warned yesterday that it was now a matter of ending rather than avoiding a civil war after 17 months of bloodshed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported continued fighting on the second day of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday celebrated by Muslims around the world to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
It said clashes erupted between rebels and government troops in Daraa after several areas were shelled, killing 15 people, including two children.
Government forces using combat helicopters, tanks and heavy artillery have also been carrying out 'savage' attacks on Herak, the opposition Syrian National Council said, warning of a humanitarian catastrophe as supplies of food and medicines run out. Fighting also flared in several southern parts of Damascus as the army battles persistent pockets of resistance despite claiming it had retaken most of the capital last month.
The Observatory said troops backed by helicopters also pounded several areas of the northern city of Aleppo, including the Salaheddin neighbourhood where much of the regime’s military operations against the rebels have been focused.
The commercial capital has emerged as the epicentre of the conflict since rebels seized large swathes of the city in an offensive launched on 20 July. Government officials have said it will be the ‘mother of all battles’.
Fighting was also reported near the city’s military tribunal and the local headquarters of the ruling Baath party, the watchdog said.
The unrelenting violence saw demonstrators take to the streets of the capital and other cities on Sunday to vent their rage at President Bashar al-Assad, as he made a rare public appearance for Eid prayers.
UN observers wound up their troubled mission at midnight on Sunday amid a failure by world powers to agree how to respond to Assad’s crackdown and bring peace to the strategic Middle East state.
Created by a UN Security Council resolution adopted in April, the team of some 300 observers was progressively deployed as part of then UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point plan to end the conflict.
Much of its operations in the field were suspended in June and its numbers cut back in the face of the mounting violence, as both sides violated a ceasefire that was meant to have been the cornerstone of Annan’s plan.
The end of the mission came just days after the veteran Algerian diplomat Brahimi was named to replace Annan.
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