A Syrian warplane flattened a three-storey building, suspected rebels detonated a deadly car bomb and both sides traded gunfire in hotspots across the country, leaving a United Nations-backed holiday truce in tatters on its second day.

Fighting raged near a military base in Syria’s north as a ceasefire in the bloody civil war was set begin on Friday at dawn, activists said, illustrating the difficulty of enforcing even a limited truce coinciding with a Muslim holiday.

Syrian government forces pounded areas in the central province of Homs today in a renewed push to regain control of rebel-held territories, and activists said at least 38 people were killed in shelling there over the past 24 hours.

SYRIA’S opposition yesterday urged the Arab League to stand strong against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime as the United Nations said its crackdown on dissent has left more than 3,500 people dead.

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.

Two Gulf Arab nations have joined Saudi Arabia in recalling their ambassadors from Syria in the wake of bloody crackdown, further isolating President Bashar Assad's regime.

Syrian troops backed by tanks and firing heavy machine guns swept into a village near the Turkish border today as the army intensified operations in the northwest where their have been heavy clashes between loyalist troops and defectors.

SYRIAN troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships have taken over a north-western town days after laying siege to it.

Syrian troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships have taken over a north-western town days after laying siege to it, activists said today.

SYRIAN security forces have made sweeping arrests, randomly detaining males above the age of 16 in a north-western province.

Syrian security forces have made sweeping arrests, randomly detaining males above the age of 16 in a north-western province, reports say.

Syrians ran for their lives today as elite army units swept through a northern province, expanding a deadly operation to crush signs of dissent against President Bashar Assad.

Syrian tanks pushed toward more towns and villages near the Turkish and Iraqi borders today, expanding the government crackdown against rebels.

Syrian tanks were reported to be pushing toward more towns and villages near the border with Turkey today.

Syrian army troops and tanks moved into a restive north western city from two sides today, extending the crackdown on a region that is historically hostile the Damascus regime.

Elite Syrian forces have moved swiftly through the country's restive north, raining tank shells on rebellious towns, torching farmland and shooting protesters who tried to tear down a poster of President Bashar Assad, activists and refugees said.

Syrian forces have shelled a town in the country’s restive north and opened fire on scattered protests nationwide, killing at least 21 people, activists said.

Thousands of Syrians defied an unrelenting government crackdown and flooded the streets across the country to buttress their two-month uprising against the country’s authoritarian regime.

Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters around the country today, activists said.