General's death blamed on Syrian rebels

Syrian warplanes bombed rebel targets with renewed intensity yesterday as the widely ignored four-day truce between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and insurgents ended.

State television said "terrorists" had assassinated an air force general, Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi, in a Damascus suburb, the latest of several rebel attacks on senior officials.

Air strikes hit suburbs of Damascus, outlying areas in the central city of Homs, and the northern rebel-held town of Maarat al-Numan, activists said.