Syria bombing: UN’s Ban Ki-moon appalled by ‘Brutality’

Violence in Syria is “reaching new and appalling heights of brutality”, the UN secretary general has said, as fighting continued across the country. Syrian air force jets bombarded rebel targets on Friday close to the Damascus airport road.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Ban Ki-moon warned that refugee numbers could swell to 700,000 by January.

More than 80 people died in clashes in Syria on Friday, activists said.

The mostly Sunni Muslim rebels who are battling Assad, from Syria’s Alawite minority linked to Shi’ite Islam, have been making gains around Syria by overrunning military bases and have been ramping up attacks on Damascus, his seat of power.

Many flights in and out of the capital Damascus were cancelled for a second day after fighting spread close to the country’s main airport.

However, state TV said domestic flights were operating.

The highway to the airport was eventually reopened by government troops after heavy fighting, the BBC’s James Reynolds in neighbouring Turkey reports.