It's been just a day after the grudging cease-fire expired between the Syrian government and rebels. Reports from Syria say government warplanes are bombing rebel-held areas with even greater vehemence.
Witnesses told Reuters there were air strikes in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, the city of Homs in central Syria, and a town in the north that's on the main highway between Damascus and Aleppo.
Syria's state media reports a senior Syrian air force general was assassinated in Damascus on Monday. Major Gen. Abdullah al-Khalidi was shot to death as he got out of a car. Syria blamed terrorists, but Al Jazeera spoke with activists who suggested the general was preparing to defect, "so the regime got rid of him before he does that".
Al Jazeera also carried blistering remarks from the prime minister of Qatar, who alleged Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is engaged in a "war of extermination against the Syrian people". He says he supports the work of U.N. peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who tried to arrange the recent dashed ceasefire between the government and the rebels for the recent Muslim holiday. But the prime minister wants Brahimi to put forward a "clear proposal" that could lead to a transfer of power away from Assad, notes the Lebanon Daily Star.
Brahimi is in China, talking with officials about the Syrian situation. He was in Russia yesterday. China and Russia have vetoed strong U.N. Security Council resolutions on Syria. Brahimi is expected to brief the Security Council next month.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
