BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian state media say 30 people are dead as a result of a car bomb in the country's largest city.
The blast took place last night in the northern city of Aleppo, which has become one of the main battlegrounds in the country's civil war.
The fight for Aleppo is critical for the regime and the opposition. If rebels capture control, they would have a major strategic victory and a stronghold near the Turkish border. A rebel defeat, at the very least, would buy more time for President Bashar Assad.
Today, the new envoy for the U.N. and the Arab League said he'll travel to Syria this week for meetings with regime officials and representatives from civil society. Lakhdar Brahimi (LAHK'-dar bra-HEE'-mee) told reporters that he answers to "no one except the Syrian people."
%@AP Links
179-r-17-(Sound of activists firing through window of building, thought to be part of barracks, in the Syrian city of Aleppo)--Video supplier Ugarit News says the video from which this sound was taken shows activists firing through a window of a building, thought to be part of barracks, in the Syrian city of Aleppo. ((This material has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting.)) (10 Sep 2012)
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APPHOTO XMM105: A Syrian rebel fighter, registers the serial number of his AK-47 to a local leader, before heading to fight government forces in Aleppo, at their headquarters in Suran, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Sept. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) (10 Sep 2012)
<<APPHOTO XMM105 (09/10/12)>>
