Israel treats 5 Syrians wounded in civil war

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Israeli soldiers treated five Syrians who had been wounded in fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels near Israel's security fence on the Golan Heights, the Israeli military said on Saturday.

The victims were taken to a hospital in Israel. The military did not say if they were combatants or civilians, or in what circumstances they crossed over to the Israeli side of the fence, although Israeli media said the wounded had approached the area near the fence and soldiers let them in.

Syrian rebels earlier overran a military police checkpoint in Khan Arnabeh, a town in the Golan Heights near the ceasefire line along the demilitarised zone with Israel, a British-based violence monitoring group said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized weapons and a tank and the Syrian army shelled villages inside the Israeli-Syrian ceasefire area.

It was not clear if the five Syrians being treated in Israel were wounded in that incident.

Earlier, intense clashes erupted at dawn between the Syrian army and rebel fighters near the Aleppo International Airport and the adjacent Nairab military airport, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Rebels have been trying for months to capture Aleppo's international airport, which lies east of the city in a complex with a smaller military airfield and an army base charged with protecting the area.

The base, home to the Syrian army's 80th Brigade, fell to rebel forces on Wednesday, and fighting has continued over the airports since, with both sides shelling each other's positions.

In Homs, pro-regime troops are pounding the villages surrounding the city of al-Kaysar, one of the opposition fighters' strongholds in the province.

In this regard, the General Commission of the Syrian Revolution announced that regime troops are shelling the towns and villages surrounding al-Kaysar using rocket launchers, mortars and tanks with an average of 6 rockets per minute.

Separately, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called on Saturday for urgent action to bring about a power transfer in Syria that excludes President Bashar Assad.

The Minister made his remarks during a security forum held in the United Arab Emirates.

LBCI/REUTERS

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