Intense fighting has erupted around a strategic air base in northern Syria, activists and state media reported today.

An American journalist has been missing in Syria since he was kidnapped more than one month ago, his family said today, less than two years after he was held by government forces in Libya while covering that country’s civil war.

Rebels and government troops are fighting for control of a key airbase in the north of Syria, activists have said.

Syrian activists have claimed rebels shot down a government warplane over the northern province of Idlib on Thursday, the second time in a week that opposition fighters claimed to have brought down an aircraft in the escalating civil war.

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

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has said increased attacks by government forces on Syrian cities violates the Security Council's demand for an end to hostilities.

Syrian troops began pulling out today from some calm cities and headed back to their bases a week ahead of a deadline to implement an international ceasefire plan, a government official said.

The streets of Hama were deserted today as it appeared to be under full Syrian government control after last week’s brutal crackdown on protesters.