Syrian jets pound rebels despite UN call for ceasefire

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Syrian jets pound rebels despite UN call for ceasefire

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Warplanes unleashed a wave of raids in Syria's north on Tuesday.

16 October,2012 05:40 pm

Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi issued an appeal for a ceasefire during the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, meanwhile, as he travelled to Cairo to thrash out a possible solution to the conflict.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the morning air raids around Maaret al-Numan were the most violent since insurgents captured the strategic town last week.The warplanes targeted a rebel blockade of the highway to second city Aleppo, theatre of intense fighting for the past three months, it said, adding that insurgents responded with anti-aircraft fire.Maaret al-Numan is strategically located in the northwestern province of Idlib.Army shelling of the nearby town of Kafr Nabal killed two children, said the Observatory, adding that at least 14 more people died in violence across Syria on Tuesday.A citizen journalist in the town said the children were killed by an air strike on their home.Usually, warplanes overfly Kafr Nabal for a while before the air strikes begin, but this time, the fighter jet bombarded the town without warning, said the journalist who identified himself as Raed Fares.As it tries to subdue the insurgency in the north, the army is battling rebels at Eastern Ghuta, in the countryside outside Damascus.Brahimi, the UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, called for a ceasefire as the revolt entered its 20th month with a death toll of more than 33,000.He made his call as he shuttled between Syrias neighbours, bitterly divided by the conflict along the confessional lines that have traditionally riven the Islamic world.The veteran troubleshooter visited Shiite-majority Iraq after talks in Shiite-ruled Iran, closest ally of the minority Alawite-dominated regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Last week, Brahimi visited Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the two Sunni-led states which have been the greatest champions of Syrias opposition. And on Tuesday he was in Cairo to meet Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi.Brahimi has appealed to the Iranian authorities to assist in achieving a ceasefire in Syria during the forthcoming Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest holidays celebrated by the Muslims around the world, his office said.Eid al-Adha, which falls at the end of October, marks the climax of the annual hajj pilgrimage.He reiterated the call by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for a ceasefire and a halt to the flow of arms to both sides. A ceasefire, he said, would help create an environment that would allow a political process to develop.