BEIRUT // Kofi Annan, the United Nations-Arab League special envoy to Syria said yesterday he was "gravely concerned" about the latest violence there, citing shelling of opposition areas in Homs and reports of mortar, helicopter and tank attacks near the coast.
Mr Annan said there was an escalation of fighting by government and opposition forces.
Violence has increased in recent weeks, with both sides ignoring a ceasefire brokered by the United Nations that was supposed to go into effect on April 12 but never took hold.
Mr Annan demanded both sides "take all steps to ensure that civilians are not harmed."
Activists yesterday said Syrian troops attacked a rebel-held town with helicopter gunships and shelled other areas across the nation. The aerial assault targeted the strategic river crossing town of Rastan, which has resisted repeated government offensives for months, the activists said.
"The regime is now using helicopters more after its ground troops suffered major losses," said Rami Abdul-Rahman of the Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which uses a network of sources on the ground.
The Syrian foreign ministry spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, recently said that rebels were now using sophisticated anti-tank missiles. Videos posted by activists over the past week have shown many destroyed tanks and armoured personnel carriers.
According to videos posted online, fireballs of orange flame and black rubble exploded in the air as waves of shells pounded residential buildings in Homs yesterday. The sounds of shells whooshed through the sky and there was machine-gun fire. The videos could not be independently verified.
The human-rights agency and another activist coalition, the Local Coordination Committees, also reported government shelling in the provinces of Hama and Homs, where Rastan is located, as well as the southern region of Deraa, the province of Aleppo, and suburbs of Damascus and Deir el-Zour.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said a bomb targeted a security force in the city of Idlib, killing seven soldiers and a civilian. There was no immediate confirmation from state media.
In Damascus, the state-run news agency, Sana, said authorities foiled a bid to blow up a car rigged with 700 kilograms of explosives.
Syrian activists say 13,000 people have been killed in violence since the uprising began in March last year.
The bloodshed has led to broad condemnation of the regime from the international community, although Russia, Iran and China have stood by president Bashar Al Assad. Russia and China have vetoed two Security Council resolutions that threatened sanctions against Syria.
Russia has refused to support any move that could lead to foreign intervention in Syria, Moscow's last significant ally in the Middle East.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, is scheduled to visit Syria's ally, Iran, tomorrow.
In Germany, the country's defence minister sharply rejected the idea of military intervention in Syria, referring to those who ask for it as "coffee-house intellectuals."
Thomas de Maiziere told yesterday's edition of the newspaper taz: "The continued waffling by people who bear none of the responsibility creates expectations in regions like Syria, thereby causing terrible disappointment."
* Associated Press
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Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
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Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
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Squad rules
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The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
