The new head of the U.N. observer mission in Syria said on Monday that he saw heavy shelling in the central city of Homs and major damage to the nearby town of Rastan during his first visit into the field."During my visit to Homs, I was personally able to witness heavy shelling from artillery and mortars ongoing in the neighborhoods of the city," Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye told news hounds after Sunday's trip.
"Rastan was heavily damaged by an intensive shelling campaign and fierce fighting," Gaye said.
"There were damaged tanks left on the side of the streets, public infrastructure, such as bridges, was destroyed, and homes on the main roads inside the town were largely damaged."
Gaye said he had met both the provincial governor and members of the rebel Free Syrian Army to "gauge their readiness for local engagement and dialogue."
He called on both sides to exercise restraint and to move away from "this mindset of confrontation and militarization."
He said he was "deeply concerned about the ongoing violence from both sides in Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
," Syria's most populous city, where an army assault on rebel positions entered its third day on Monday.
"My observers there have reported an upsurge in the violence, with helicopters, tanks and artillery being used," the Senegal
... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees...
ese general said.