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Lakhdar Brahimi, appointed by the Arab League and United Nations as envoy to Syria, had sought to get both rebels and President Bashar al-Assad to halt their fighting over the Eid al-Adha holiday. Instead, government jets and artillery bombarded opposition neighbourhoods and rebels launched attacks on military checkpoints.
Speaking in Moscow alongside Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Brahimi said he was “terribly sorry” that the ceasefire had failed and that the civil war was getting even worse.
He said the UN “is not considering” sending an armed peacekeeping force to Syria, though relevant officials were conducting contingency planning in case the Security Council ordered such a mission.
That is highly unlikely, with Russia and China — two Council members — opposing any kind of international intervention.
Before the car bomb, Syrian fighter jets bombarded a rebel stronghold on the edge of the capital, opposition activists said.
Air raids, clashes and car bombings claimed at least 100 lives on Sunday, opposition sources said.
Brahimi’s ceasefire was violated almost as soon as it was agreed, and both rebels and government troops initiated firefights since the three-day holiday began at sunset on 25 October. He is also due to visit China.
Syria has banned most international media from operating in the country, making it difficult for Al Jazeera to verify reports from activists and authorities.
Explosions, mortar attacks and gunfire have been heard throughout Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city, where neighbourhoods have been reduced to rubble as a result of the months-long struggle there.
In the north-western Idlib province, the attacks killed at least 16 people on Sunday, including seven children and five women, an activist group said.
“The ceasefire is practically over. Damascus has been under brutal air raids since day one and hundreds of people have been arrested,” Fawaz Tello, an opposition campaigner, said.
Regime forces and rebels had agreed to a call by Brahimi to lay down their arms but reserved the right to respond to attacks. Fierce fighting erupted after a short lull, and each side accused each other of breaching the ceasefire.
State news agency SANA said “armed terrorist groups” had attacked checkpoints and planted explosive devices in several cities. — Al Jazeera
derick.khumalo
Online Reporter