BEIRUT, July 7, (Agencies): Syrian regime forces bombarded a string of towns in Aleppo province on Saturday, as at least 60 people — 31 civilians, 19 soldiers and 10 rebels and deserters — were killed countrywide, monitors said.
In the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, seven members of one family were among 13 people killed in a bombardment by regime forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Syrian forces bombarded towns in the northern province of Aleppo on Saturday, as the conflict spilled into neighbouring Lebanon, where two girls were killed amid cross-border clashes.
In Syria itself, at least 19 people were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“Regime forces are attempting to regain control over this (Aleppo) region, where they suffered heavy casualties over the past months to rebels,” the Observatory said, adding that the bombardment killed a civilian and wounded dozens in the town of Qabtan al-Jabal.
“A large number of families have been displaced from the area for fear of shelling and lack of water, electricity and medical services,” the watchdog added of the attacks in the northern province.
The violence came a day after 93 people were killed across Syria on Friday, as dozens of protesters took to the streets calling for a “People’s liberation war.”
In Lebanon, a teenager died when a rocket hit her house in the border region of Wadi Khaled, a Lebanese security official told AFP, adding that five others were wounded by rockets and exchanges of gunfire.
“A few hours later, an eight-year-old Bedouin girl, who recently fled with her parents from Syria, was killed,” said a hospital source in Akkar province.
“A military expert who visited the site said it was either a mine planted in the area or an explosive they were handling,” the security source said, after initially reporting that a shell had hit their tent.
A local official said clashes had broken out at dawn between the Syrian army and gunmen on the Lebanese side of the border.
Plan
On Friday, some 100 nations and organisations meeting in Paris called on the UN Security Council to adopt a transition plan for Syria backed by economic sanctions if the regime refuses to comply.
Concretely, they asked the council to urgently adopt a six-point peace plan drawn up by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan under the UN Charter’s Chapter VII.
But the final statement stressed that any immediate action under Article 41 provided only for non-military intervention.
The Annan plan, which insists on a cessation of violence by all sides, has made little headway and activists say an estimated 16,500 people have now died since the uprising began in March last year.
“We should go back and ask for a resolution in the Security Council that imposes real and immediate consequences for non-compliance, including sanctions,” ranging from economic measures to military force, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.
In some of her toughest comments yet, Clinton said she thought China and long-time Syrian ally Russia did “not believe they are paying any price at all for standing up on behalf of the regime”.
Rejected
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov “categorically” rejected “the formulation that Russia supports Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the situation that has developed in Syria”.
Although Moscow did not attend the meeting, a diplomatic source insisted that “Russian political and security circles are changing their position”.
The meeting took place as news emerged that a general from Assad’s most trusted inner circle had defected in what would be a major blow to the regime as it battles the opposition.
General Munaf Tlass, a boyhood friend of Assad, was a general in the elite Republican Guard charged with protecting the regime. He is the son of former defence minister Mustafa Tlass, a close friend of Assad’s late father and predecessor, Hafez.
In other developments, UN chief Ban Ki-moon called on Friday for scaling down an observer mission in Syria to refocus on political efforts to end the bloodshed.
He said the observers’ mandate should remain unchanged, though with a “reduced military observer component,” and the focus shifting from monitoring a ceasefire that has never taken hold toward a more political role.
Rebuffed
China rebuffed on Saturday US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s accusation that Beijing and Moscow have hindered the resolution of the crisis in Syria, saying any attempt to “slander” China was doomed to fail.
Clinton urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s enemies meeting in Paris on Friday to make Russia and China “pay a price” for helping him to keep power in Damascus, remarks that were among Washington’s toughest yet in 16 months of revolt in Syria.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said Clinton’s comments were “totally unacceptable”.
“On the Syria problem, China’s fair and constructive stance and its contributions toward diplomatic efforts have attained the wide understanding and support of relevant parties in the international community,” Liu said in a statement on the ministry’s website.
“Any words and deeds that slander China and sow discord between China and other countries will be in vain.”
In her comments to the Friends of Syria meeting, Clinton said the only way matters would change “is if every nation represented here directly and urgently makes it clear that Russia and China will pay a price because they are holding up progress - blockading it.”
Russia and China have repeatedly used veto power at the UN Security Council to block calls for Assad to leave power.
The two countries say they are committed rather to the peace plan drafted by UN envoy Kofi Annan which proposes national dialogue. UN peace monitors effectively gave up on their mission last month after just weeks in Syria as it became clear there was no peace to monitor.
Liu reiterated Beijing’s stance that its actions were in keeping with the UN Charter and “the norms governing international relations”.
Russia hit back at Clinton’s criticism on Friday, saying the Secretary of State’s comments were “incorrect”.