Rescuers tried to pull survivors out of the rubble of collapsed houses
Syrian warplanes have attacked the northern town of Azaz near Aleppo, killing 30 people and wounding many more, activists say.
Azaz air strike in Syria leaves '30 dead'
Rescuers scoured the rubble in search of survivors and casualties were taken to a nearby field hospital as well as to the Turkish border for treatment.
There are growing fears that tensions from the Syrian conflict have begun to spill over into neighbouring Lebanon.
Saudi Arabia has urged its citizens to leave because of the risk of abduction.
A Shia Muslim clan said on Wednesday that it had kidnapped 20 Syrians in Lebanon in retaliation for the abduction of a Lebanese kidnapped by rebels in Damascus on Monday.
The rebels claimed Hassan al-Meqdad was a member of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, an allegation denied by Hezbollah.
A group of 11 Lebanese hostages was among those caught up in Wednesday's air strike on Azaz. Four of the group were reported missing after the attack, while the others were said to be wounded.
"The building they were in was hit," a rebel commander told a Lebanese TV channel.
A journalist working for AFP news agency spoke of a large area involving around 10 homes being flattened. Dozens of people screamed and wailed as they searched for survivors in the rubble.
"All the houses were full of women and children who were asleep because of the Ramadan fast," a 50-year-old man told AFP.
Azaz is a few miles south of the Turkish border and some 30 miles (48km) north of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city where the army is trying to claw back areas of the city taken over by rebels.
It was unclear whether opposition forces were in Azaz, although an Associated Press reporter said the rebels had offices not far away.
'Systematic violations'
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Houla massacre
- Residents of Taldou village in the Houla region say that after an anti-government protest on 25 May, the army began an 18-hour bombardment
- Some accounts say rebel fighters attacked the military position from where shellfire was coming
- Pro-government shabiha militia then reportedly entered Taldou, killing people in their homes
- UN observers say at least 108 people died, including 49 children and 34 women. No more than 20 appeared to have been killed by shellfire
- A government investigation blames armed groups seeking to trigger foreign military intervention
The latest assault by Syrian forces coincided with a report by UN investigators that accused the army and pro-government shabiha militia of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In particular, their report concluded they had been behind the 25 May Houla massacre in which 108 people died, including 49 children.
The massacre, in the village of Taldou, was considered one of the worst attacks on civilians since the start of the uprising in March 2011.
The inquiry, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, said war crimes had been carried out by both opposition groups and government forces.
It found opposition forces guilty of war crimes but not of the same gravity or on the same frequency or scale as those blamed on government forces.
The 102-page report alleged that systematic violations such as murder, torture and sexual violence had been authorised at the highest levels of the Syrian government.
Although President Bashar al-Assad's government did not allow the team into Syria, the investigators spoke to almost 700 people, including civilians and former soldiers who have fled to neighbouring UN blames Syria for Houla deaths countries.
The report's publication came hours after an explosion in central Damascus near a hotel where UN observers have been staying.
At least three people were hurt when a bomb attached to a diesel tanker blew up, state media reported.
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Today is
Crimes Against Humanity, Rapes, Civilian Casualties, Children Suffrage
WHAT IS WAR?
17 Months of Death and Destruction, all because of 1 Man.
The Man:
Bashar Hafez al-Assad is the current President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Syrian-led branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.
Presidential Term: July 17, 2000 –
His Father:
Hafez al-Assad was a Syrian statesman, politician and general serving as Prime Minister between 1970 and 1971 and then President of Syria between February 22, 1971 – June 10, 2000
Syrian People have been ruled by the Assad Father and Son combination for more than 41 years, and this behavior by the Son, is exactly the duplicate behavior of his father, regarding the torture and murdering of the Syrian people.
What's the difference between Assad, Netanyahu, Bush, Putin, or any other world leader?
NOTHING.
Once a man gets the taste of power, the longer that he has that power, the more citizens that will have to die in order to oust that man from the power drug.
Bush's G. W., family was actually admonished by the U.S. Government during WWII, and his father H. W. history:
* Member of the U.S. House of Representatives,
from Texas's 7th district - In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1971
* United States Ambassador to the United Nations - In office
March 1, 1971 – January 18, 1973
* Chairperson of the Republican National Committee - In office
January 19, 1973 – September 16, 1974
* Chief of the Liaison Office to the People's Republic of China - In office September 26, 1974 – December 7, 1975
Director of Central Intelligence - In office January 30, 1976 – January 20, 1977
* 43rd Vice President of the United States - In office
January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989
* 41st President of the United States - In office January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993
The fact that Jeb Bush was the governor of FL..., the state that caused the voting issue in 2000, while his brother was running for President, which subsequently caused the "Supreme Court" to vote brother bush in office..., isn't a coincidence, especially when daddy did all of that stuff?
But, I digress.
Al-Assad's Family has lived a kings life style for decades, and the lives of the Syrian people matter not to him, what matters to Assad as we speak..., is his ability to maintain status quo, even after all the murder and torturing that he is responsible for.
Iran, China, and Russia, have been Syria's ally throughout this entire 17 month long conflict, to the extent that Russia & China vetoed any sanctions against Syria since Feb. of this year.
When leaders of similar type ideology stand by each other, their bond, based on similar power, creates a bond that over rides any citizen's human considerations, and for China & Russia, their stance against the U.N. on Syria, has now become a huge embarrassment, and will humiliate the leaders of China & Russia and their people.
Assad's life is coming to a close, and the destruction of Syria and the subsequent chaos that will ensue, was necessary.
And, I would suggest, that 95% of all nations on earth, have leaders who would use the use of civil disobedience controls requirements to order the police to crush any possible ousting of their positions as leaders.
Currently in the U.S., our past leaders have written in rules that would allow them to stay in office until specific acts are met to get them out, which ensures that any singular act, could not force the rep to be removed immediately.
War of any kind is the worse entity of all entities, a entity which ensures that the most barbaric human behavior will surely take place. Everything that has transpired in Syria, to include the rapes and tortures, are part of the entity of war, and any future war that takes place on earth, will surely ensue with the same types of actions by the citizens, the police and the military of that nation.
Romney, runing for President of the U. S., is talking tough on Iran, and if he is elected, his flawed character may force him to back up his talk of pledging loyalty to Israel, which will cost American Human Lives.
Israel, for some reason, is seeking a reason to attack Iran, and we are coming up on the same date and same pre-Presidential scenario that Israel used to attack Palistine. Knowing that a Presidential election is going on..., Israel will attack, attempting to force Obama to act with loyalty to Israel in order to get the Jewish vote.
War is a specific entity, and all barbaric acts of human capabilities will take place.
The Syrian War is coming to a end, but, worse actions are to come.
In My Opinion
ASKFMB
8/15/2012
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