A Syrian opposition leader called on world leaders to take “immediate action” to end government attacks on rebel-held suburbs of Damascus, amid reports that some 150 people have been killed in government airstrikes in the past 10 days.

Syrian government forces have launched a counter-attack to recapture a gas field seized by Islamic extremists, activists said, as the death toll from three days of fighting there rose to more than 200.

Syrian troops fought intense battles today against rebels who are trying to capture two military bases in the northwest and step up their attacks on army compounds elsewhere in the nation, activists said.

The Syrian military has bombarded the outskirts of Damascus and other areas around the country, according to activists.

Two deadly car bombs and sporadic fighting marred a shaky holiday truce today in Syria, although thousands of protesters used the brief respite in the civil war to pour into the streets and demand president Bashar Assad’s removal.

A Syrian passenger jet with 200 people aboard has landed safely after a military helicopter clipped its tail in mid-air, reports say.

A Syrian military helicopter has crashed in a rebellious suburb of Damascus, state-run TV says.

ON ONE hand, there are the (in Damascus, largely invisible) activists who are trying to bring down Bashar al Assad.

A 10-day government assault on a suburb of the capital Damascus has left dozens dead, hundreds more injured, and caused a major new humanitarian crisis, a Syrian activist group said today.

At least 43 people have died in two days of Government shelling of a rebellious suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus, activists say.

Syria’s elite Republican Guard has clashed with rebels outside Damascus in some of the most intense fighting involving the special forces since the uprising against president Bashar Assad began.

Activists said pro-government militia men and security forces killed at least 78 people, including children, in Syria’s central province of Hama yesterday.

Syria is expelling western diplomats, according to the foreign ministry in Damascus.

A roadside bomb has exploded in a suburb of the Syrian capital just 500ft away from a team of visiting UN observers.

Syrian rebels seeking to topple president Bashar Assad have killed three regime officers in separate attacks around Damascus, the latest violence targeting the security forces used by the government to quash dissent.

Chanting crowds of anti-regime protesters in rebellious Damascus suburbs have welcomed United Nations observers monitoring the shaky cease-fire.

Syrian troops have stormed and shelled districts in a suburb of the capital Damascus, activists said.

Syrian forces used live fire, tear gas and clubs to beat back tens of thousands of protesters who took to the streets across the country yesterday in powerful and often jubilant displays of defiance.

Syria’s foreign minister has said the government has already withdrawn some forces from several cities, and stated that the UN-brokered ceasefire must start at the same time as the deployment of international observers.

Activists said Syrian forces attacked two towns today as a deadline passed for President Bashar Assad’s troops to start withdrawing from populated areas under an internationally brokered truce deal.

Syrian government shelling and offensives against rebel-held towns killed at least 74 people across the country today, activists have said.

At least 28 people have been killed by Syrian government shelling and offensives against rebel-held towns, activists said today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the crisis in Syria is getting worse and claiming more lives every day even though President Bashar Assad’s government insists it is withdrawing troops ahead of a UN deadline to end the violence.

Syrian troops have launched a fierce assault on a Damascus suburb, days ahead of a deadline for a UN-brokered ceasefire.

Syrian troops are attacking a suburb of the capital Damascus in what activists described as one of the most violent campaigns since the year-old uprising began.

Syrian troops have launched assaults on several towns around the country including two near the largest city of Aleppo, according to activists.

Syrian troops have clashed with army defectors and shelled rebel districts in Homs, killing at least 11 civilians a day after the government claimed it had begun a withdrawal ahead of the deadline for an international truce plan.

Syrian troops have begun pulling out from some cities and heading back to their bases a week ahead of a deadline to implement an international ceasefire plan, a government official said.

Syrian troops stormed a flashpoint suburb of Damascus yesterday, rounding people up in house-to-house raids and clashing with army defectors, activists said, as the 10-month-old uprising inches ever closer to the capital.

Syria has rebuffed as a “conspiracy” an Arab League call for president Bashar al-Assad to step down in favour of a unity government to calm a 10-month-old revolt in which thousands of Syrians have been killed.

The Arab League obser-vers mission in Syria has been extended for another month, officials from the 22-member organisation said yesterday.

The Arab League observer’s mission in Syria has been extended for another month, officials from the 22-member organisation said today.

At least 14 people were killed today when a string of explosions struck a police truck transporting prisoners in a tense area of north-western Syria, the country's state-run news agency and an opposition group said.

At least 19 people have died as hundreds of thousands of Syrians poured into the streets in the largest protests in months, activists said.

Authorities in Syria are bracing themselves for another day of demonstrations as anti-

SYRIAN security forces opened fire on protesters outside a mosque in a Damascus suburb, close to a building that members of the Arab League monitoring mission were visiting, activists say.

Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters outside a mosque in a Damascus suburb, close to a building that members of the Arab League monitoring mission were visiting, activists say.

A GENERAL strike was observed yesterday in several regions of Syria to step up the pressure on the regime, activists said, as fears grew of an “invasion” of the besieged protest hub of Homs.

FRANCE recalled its ambassador to Damascus as Syrian President Bashar Assad came under increasing pressure from home and abroad, with army defectors killing at least eight soldiers in a daring attack on the military.

Syrian army defectors have launched attacks on president Bashar Assad’s military targets near the capital Damascus.

SYRIAN security forces opened fire on protesters in several parts of the country yesterday, killing at least eight people and wounding scores, while masked gunmen burst into an apartment in the predominantly Kurdish north-east and shot dead one of Syria’s most prominent opposition figures.

Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters in several parts of the country today, killing at least eight people and wounding scores, while masked gunmen burst into an apartment in the predominantly Kurdish north-east and shot dead one of Syria’s most prominent opposition figures.

SYRIAN government troops backed by tanks yesterday attacked two central towns that have seen intense protests against President Bashar Assad’s regime, while security forces opened fire at demonstrators in several parts of the country causing casualties, activists said.

THE authorities in Syria set a deadline of 15 days for people who had committed “unlawful acts” to give themselves up, as a wave of arrests was reported across the country.