A general of the Syrian army was killed Saturday in a car bomb explosion in the north of Damascus, the Lebanese TV channel Al-Mayadine reported without specifying the name of the general. The bomb planted in the vehicle of the senior officer exploded while he was in the neighborhood of Abu Rokn al-Din. The blast damaged several nearby cars.
Meanwhile, Syrian insurgents have stepped up their attacks against the infrastructure of the Air Force. In recent days, the insurgents have attacked military airports, claiming to have destroyed a dozen of helicopters and planes to weaken the air force, which has been bombing targets on a daily basis.
Russia, an ally of Damascus, for iis part, felt that it was "naive" to think that Assad would cease fire first, following statements by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon assigning the primary responsibility for ending violence on the regime.
The insurgents seized Friday evening the main building of an airbase harboring anti-aircraft weapons in Boukamal, a large city in the province of Deir Ezzor (east) close to the Iraqi border, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR).
"This is an important point for the insurgents," said Rami Abdel Rahman, president of the SOHR. According to information that could not be verified, the insurgents have seized anti-aircraft missiles.
After this operation, at least 16 soldiers, including officers, were captured, according to the NGO.
The rebels, who already hold the border post of Boukamal since mid-July, have been trying to take control of the city.
At Idleb (north), the insurgents hold a part of the airport of Abu el-Zouhour, one of the largest air bases in the province. In the same region, they destroyed Saturday an army post in Harem, including heavy vehicles, according to the SOHR. Four soldiers were killed in an attack on another checkpoint in the province of Hama (center).
According to the official SANA news agency, the regime's troops have destroyed several "terrorist" positions, killed and captured many of them in the provinces of Idleb and Aleppo (north) over the past 24 hours .
The violence on Friday, the traditional day of demonstrations against the regime, killed 125 people, including 74 civilians, according to the SOHR.
