Warplane hits Damascus as rebels claim killing general

AFP/Damascus

A resident crouches by the door of his house as he talks to a member of the Free Syrian Army during clashes with pro-government forces in Haram town, Idlib governorate, yesterday

A Syrian fighter jet hit targets inside Damascus for the first time yesterday, a watchdog said, as air strikes pounded rebel bastions around the country and an air force general was shot dead. It dropped four bombs on the east Damascus neighbourhood of Jobar, near the opposition-held suburb of Zamalka, where rebel fighters were locked in fierce clashes with the army, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. There were no reports of casualties in the bombing run, which AFP correspondents said was heard across the capital. Only helicopter gunships have previously been used to strafe areas inside Damascus, said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. The strike, and more raids around the country, came as Syrian rebels claimed to have assassinated an air force general in Damascus. State television said the general, Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi, was killed in the northern Damascus district of Rukn al-Din, but gave no further details. The general was shot dead on Monday evening as he left a friend’s home, a security source in Damascus said on condition of anonymity. The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) claimed in an Internet statement it had killed Khalidi, who it said was in charge of training, as well as an air force intelligence specialist. The government has intensified air strikes against rebel-held areas in recent days, with more than 60 raids on Monday, the most in a single day so far, the Observatory said. Yesterday, air strikes hit rebel bastions around Damascus including the town of Douma. The Observatory said at least 23 people were killed there, including 18 in jet strikes and bombardment by tanks, and that the toll was expected to rise. The northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan, seized by rebels earlier this month, was also hit, with seven civilians killed, including four children, it said. The army has been battling rebels for weeks for control of the town, which is on a key supply route between Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo. Yesterday also saw clashes between rebels and troops backed by Palestinian fighters at the Yarmuk refugee camp, home to 148,500 Palestinians on the edge of the capital. Anwar Raja, spokesman for the pro-Damascus Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, said its forces clashed for about an hour with rebels trying to infiltrate the camp but that there were no casualties. There are more than 510,000 Palestinian refugees living in Syria, and their leadership is largely supportive of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. At least 123 people, including 57 civilians, 41 soldiers and 25 rebels were killed in fighting yesterday, the Observatory said. On the first day after the Eid al-Adha holiday, which saw a ceasefire bid collapse in the face of renewed clashes, car bombings and air strikes, the Observatory said more than 500 people had died in fighting over its four days. International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was to travel to China from Russia. Both are historic Damascus allies and have repeatedly blocked tough UN Security Council action against Assad’s government.