Syrian forces battled rebels near
the airport in war-battered Aleppo, Syria's state media said Friday, in the
first official acknowledgment that fighting has reached the doorstep of the
strategic site in the country's largest city.
In Damascus, activists reported
heavy shelling and clashes in many areas, including western districts believed
to have rebel pockets. Damascus-based activist Moaz al-Shami described the
shelling as "nonstop" and said gunners were firing from the Qasioun Mountains
overlooking the city.
Clashes re-erupted Friday in south and west Damascus between
the regime troops and the opposition militants while shelling continues on
Aleppo’s neighborhoods.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 180
were killed in different areas of the country.
Exclusive sources revealed to LBCI that Over 15,000 people fled from Aazaz area to Turkey. The city is almost deserted.
International positions
On the international level, the latest developments of the Syrian crisis
were the main item in the meeting held in New York, following the call of Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
While the French Foreign Minister Laurent
Fabius said on Thursday that he had information that the Assad regime would be
shaken by more "spectacular" defections soon, the Syrian defected
Prime Minister Riyadh Hijab’s spokesperson, Mohammad al-Atri said that Hijab
left Jordan on Thursday and headed to Qatar in a three-day visit.
This as the United Nations confirmed that veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi will replace former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan as the international mediator on Syria as the 17-month-old conflict slides deeper into civil war.
Meanwhile, the French FM Laurent
Fabius declared that the Syrian regime must fall as soon as possible,
denouncing the gross violations that the regime has committed against its people.
Fabius made his remarks following a visit he made to the Syrian refugees camps
on the Turkish border.
For his part, the Iranian Foreign
Ministry’s spokesperson said that Iran supports the proposal of the Egyptian
President Mohammad Morsi to found a contact group with Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia
and Turkey to settle the Syrian crisis.
In turn, the British Red Cross warned
against the danger to which the humanitarian workers are exposed to due to the ongoing
battles in Syria.
For the full LBCI report, watch the video above
AP/LBCI