Syrian airstrike kills eight, wounds 20 • BEIRUT — A Syrian warplane on Saturday bombed a small town partially controlled by anti-regime fighters near the Turkish border, killing eight people and wounding at least 20, the latest escalation in the use of air power by President Bashar Assad’s government in the Arab nation’s civil war.
The afternoon airstrike, reported by activists in the area as well as the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, was one of at least two that took place Saturday. The increased use of airstrikes by the regime is taking its toll on civilians and, in the eyes of activists, is evidence of its insensitivity to civilian casualties as it battles for survival against the rebels.
The airstrike on the town of Manbej in the Jarablous area came hours after a government announcement said Syria welcomed the appointment of former Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi as the U.N.’s new point man in efforts to halt the civil war. The announcement was made by the office of Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa, which also denied Arab media reports that al-Sharaa had defected to the opposition.
In Syria, activists and the London Observatory could not say what was the intended target of the air-force MiG-25 when it rocketed Manbej. The Associated Press
