Activists say Syria 20 killed in army airstrikes

The Associated Press, Amman, Jordan | World | Sun, April 07 2013, 9: 12 PM

Syrian Government airstrikes killed at least 20 people as the army pressed ahead Sunday with its campaign to the rebellion against President Bashar Assad, activists said.

State television said the primary purpose of the air strikes was to "recapture areas taken by the terrorists," a reference to the rebel free Syrian army, those weapons against Assad took over after two years ago security forces launched a bloody crackdown on protesters.

The rebels control large swaths of northern Syria, and captured their first provincial capital — the city of Raqqa — last month. They also have to make a profit in recent weeks in the South, taking over military bases and towns in the strategically important region between Damascus and the border with Jordan, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the capital Damascus.

The Syrian Observatory for human rights, on the basis of Great Britain says airstrikes Sunday targeted the northern cities of Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Idlib, the Western Mediterranean city of Latakia, the Eastern Province of Deir el-Zour and the suburbs of Damascus.

Down South in Daraa, was a man shot and killed by an Army sniper, the Observatory said. It added that there was little progress in the county where rebel forces of the opposition in large parts of the country over the past two weeks.

On the outskirts of Damascus, the Army rebels Adra district pursued and their base near Qarra, reported the State News Agency SANA raided.

He also said that the army "demolished two caves with all terrorists and ammunition inside them in the central province of Homs, al-Khalidiya district killing several terrorists." It provided no other details.

In a rare move, the Government called on rebels to give up their arms, warning in mobile phone text messages that the army is "coming to get you."