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October 30, 2012

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Muslim festival ceasefire fails in Syria

SYRIAN jets bombed parts of Damascus yesterday in what residents said were the capital's fiercest air raids yet, underlining the collapse of a truce proposed by peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

"More than 100 buildings have been destroyed, some levelled to the ground," said opposition activist Moaz al-Shami, who said he had witnessed three air raids in the northeastern suburb of Harasta alone. "Whole neighbourhoods are deserted."

Syrian state television said a "terrorist car bomb" had killed 10 people, including women and children, near a bakery in Jaramana, a southeastern district of Damascus controlled by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Each side blamed the other for breaking the four-day truce for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which swiftly broke down.

"I am deeply disappointed that the parties failed to respect the call to suspend fighting," UN chief Ban Ki-moon said. "This crisis cannot be solved with more weapons and bloodshed ... the guns must fall silent."

Brahimi, after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, voiced regret at the fate of the ceasefire.

Although the Syrian military and several rebel groups accepted the plan to stop shooting over Eid al-Adha, which ended yesterday, it failed to stem the bloodshed.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition watchdog, 420 people have been killed since Friday.

Damascus residents reported air raids on the suburbs of Qaboun, Zamalka and Irbin since Sunday night which they said were the heaviest since jets and helicopters first bombarded pro-opposition parts of the Syrian capital in August.

State media said insurgents never respected the truce.

"For the fourth consecutive day, the armed terrorist groups in Deir al-Zor continued violating the declaration on suspending military operations which the armed forces have committed to," state news said, adding that rebels had also attacked government forces in Aleppo and the central city of Homs.

Brahimi, who will visit Beijing today after Moscow, said the renewed violence in Syria would not discourage him. "We think this civil war must end ... and the new Syria has to be built by all its sons," he said. "The support of Russia and other members of the Security Council is indispensable."



 

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