Iran pushes truce as Syria fighting rages

18 Sep 2012, 10:47 pm   -   Source: AAP

Iran has proposed a halt to the violence and a peaceful solution to the conflict in Syria.

Syrian troops have shelled several districts in Aleppo and clashed with rebels, as Damascus ally Iran proposes a simultaneous halt to the violence and a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Clashes erupted in Bustan al-Qasr in the southwest and in nearby Izaa as both districts were shelled on Tuesday, residents in Syria's second city said, also reporting fighting further south in Sukari.

Overnight, shelling killed two civilians in the rebel-held Sakhur neighbourhood in the northeast, while nearby Hanano was also bombed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Syrian forces said they had secured the flashpoint Midan district on Monday after a week of fighting, although an AFP correspondent said some parts were still unsafe for residents to return.

Pro-regime newspaper Al-Watan said the army had "cleansed" Midan, which "opens the door" to nearby neighbourhoods, including Bustan al-Basha, Suleiman al-Halabi and Sakhur.

But the two-month-old battle for Aleppo was very fluid, with both sides claiming gains in a guerrilla war, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Outside Aleppo, two civilians were killed in shelling on the town of Al-Bab and the town of Safira was also reportedly bombed, according to the watchdog.

In Damascus, at least four soldiers and one rebel were killed, as the army tried to push into the southern districts of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Qadam and Assali, and three civilians were killed by shelling, the Observatory said.

Troops also bombed areas in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, where 10 civilians were killed, the northwestern province of Idlib and the central province of Homs, where a rebel was killed in fighting, the monitor added.

The Britain-based group says more than 27,000 people have been killed since the uprising erupted in March 2011.

The United Nations puts the toll at more than 20,000.

Iran's proposal emerged in a meeting in Cairo on Monday of the Syria "contact group" to which it Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey belong, Tehran's official news agency IRNA and broadcaster IRIB said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi appealed for "a simultaneous halt in clashes and violence by the sides in Syria, insisted on a peaceful solution without foreign intervention and a halt to financial, military and training support for the Syrian opposition," IRNA reported, without giving a source.

He told his Egyptian and Turkish counterparts that observers from their countries, and from Saudi Arabia, could "monitor the process of stopping the violence in Syria," IRNA added.

And he called for peace talks "to help the process of fundamental reforms and finding a democratic approach in Syria."

Last month, the United Nations withdrew its own observers after both sides failed to adhere to ceasefire to which they had committed.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube