Syrian barrel bombs kill at least 10 in Aleppo

Activists say government helicopter gunships have dropped bombs on the Syrian city of Aleppo, killing at least 10 people and wounding many others. 

An Aleppo-based activist who goes by the name Abu Raed said a barrel bomb struck a shop that sells gasoline and diesel. He said a fire broke out and many bystanders were burned. 

Abu Raed said the strike on the Qadi Askar neighborhood Thursday morning killed at least 10, while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 18 people died. 

The aerial attack comes heavy clashes erupted  between Syrian regime forces and rebels near an intelligence headquarters the opposition had tried to seize in a spectacular attack, a monitor and security source said.
"There are very heavy battles between regime forces and (rebel) fighters in the area of yesterday's attack, with the two sides shelling the other," Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.  

He had no immediate information on casualties.  

The clashes came after rebels launched a major attack on the air force intelligence headquarters in western Aleppo on Wednesday, leaving at least 20 members of regime security forces and 14 rebels dead.  

A Syrian military source confirmed the "ongoing clashes" in the area after "a fierce attack was launched by the army this morning against (rebel) gunmen positions, killing and wounding many of them."   

The attack on the intelligence offices  began with a huge explosion in a tunnel that caused part of the building to collapse. An assault by anti-regime gunmen followed but was repelled by security forces.  

It came as a UN delegation visited Aleppo to push efforts for a ceasefire in the northern city, which was once Syria's commercial hub but has been divided between regime and rebel forces since fighting erupted in mid-2012. 

Opposition forces on Sunday rejected the ceasefire plan proposed by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, saying they instead want a "comprehensive solution" to Syria's conflict through the departure of President Bashar al-Assad.

Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, al-Nusra Front, said on Twitter that its forces, along with other rebel factions, had "stormed the air force intelligence offices and surrounding buildings".

Ceasefire effort stalled

The attack was the worst reported violence in Aleppo since a UN plan to freeze fighting in the northern city was rejected by opposition forces.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has made the plan for a temporary ceasefire in Aleppo the centrepiece of his efforts to bring any kind of halt to the conflict in Syria, where more than 220,000 people have been killed since it erupted in March 2011.

De Mistura in October unveiled the proposal to suspend fighting in Aleppo to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and make a first step toward a broader political deal.

He held talks in Damascus on Saturday to try to finalise a deal, with a delegation member saying he hoped to set in motion as soon as possible a plan to halt fighting in Aleppo for six weeks.

But rebel representatives refused to consider the proposal unless it forms the basis for a "comprehensive solution" to the conflict through the departure of Assad.

De Mistura has angered the opposition by describing Assad as "part of the solution" to the Syrian conflict.

Some Western powers have also cast doubt on the plan, with the French ambassador to the United Nations, Francois Delattre, saying Tuesday that "France remains sceptical about the regime's willingness" to follow through on it.

Wednesday's attack featured a favoured tactic of Syria's rebels, especially in Aleppo, of digging tunnels near government buildings and setting off explosives.

A similar blast from explosives planted in a tunnel under Aleppo's Old City in December killed at least seven government troops.

Fighting in Aleppo erupted in mid-2012, and control of the city, once Syria's commercial hub, has since been divided between rebels on the eastern side and the regime in the west.

The air force intelligence headquarters in Aleppo is a key strategic site for regime, and the area of the base has come under repeated attacks from rebel forces.