At least 7 killed in Syria fighting, civil war fearedMay 8, 2012 - 18:40 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Security forces killed at least seven people in fighting across Syria on Tuesday, May 8 activists said, in a 14-month-old revolt that the Red Cross and Arab League warned was becoming a civil war, Reuters reported. Across Syria, clashes between state forces and rebels who have joined the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad raged overnight and flared again on Tuesday afternoon, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Despite a shaky truce, the carnage in Syria has not stopped even as the government held a parliamentary poll a day earlier. Damascus promoted it as a milestone on its path to reform, but the opposition slammed the election as a sham and boycotted the vote. As election officials counted votes on Tuesday, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said fighting had been so intense in some parts of Syria that at times the conflict in those places qualified as a localized civil war. Jakob Kellenberger said he was very worried about conditions in Syria, where United Nations observers are being deployed to monitor a ceasefire agreement that has been repeatedly violated by state forces and by rebels. "I really hope that the UN observers will deploy rapidly," he told reporters in Geneva, indicating concern for the fate of UN envoy Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan for Syria. "I still hope it will not fail." Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Armenia Security Council chief traveling to Qatar Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan will travel on a working visit to Qatar. Armenian Foreign Minister regrets “tragic loss” of Iranian counterpart The Armenian Foreign Ministry has expressed shock over the death of the Iranian President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Armenian PM sends condolences to Iran Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sent a message of condolence to the Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei. Armenia, Turkey discuss restoration of historic bridge The meeting took place on May 17 in Ashgabat on the sidelines of an international conference of ministers of culture. |