BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) – Syria warned on Thursday of a possible “surprise” response to Israel’s attack on its territory and Russia condemned the air strike as an unprovoked violation of international law.

Damascus could take “a surprise decision to respond to the aggression of the Israeli warplanes”, Syrian ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali said a day after Israel struck against Syria.

AMMAN, Jan 31 (Reuters) – The force of the dawn attack on a
Syrian military site outside Damascus on Wednesday shook the
ground, waking nearby residents from their slumber with up to a
dozen blasts, two sources in the area said.

“We were sleeping. Then we started hearing rockets hitting
the complex and the ground started shaking and we ran into the
basement,” said a woman who lives adjacent to the sprawling
Jamraya site north-west of the Syrian capital.

BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) – Israeli warplanes bombed a convoy near Syria’s border with Lebanon, sources told Reuters, apparently targeting weapons destined for Hezbollah in what some called a warning to Damascus not to arm Israel’s Lebanese enemy.

Syrian state television accused Israel of bombing a military research center at Jamraya, between Damascus and the nearby border, but Syrian rebels disputed that, saying their forces had attacked the site. No source spoke of a second Israeli strike.

AMMAN (Reuters) – More than 20 people were killed in the Syrian city of Homs on Saturday, a doctor said, as fighting raged around a road junction on a supply line to government forces in the interior of the country.

The opposition accuses shabbiha militia loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of killing some 200 Sunni Muslim civilians in Homs in massacres over the last two weeks, but a Syrian ban on most independent media makes such reports difficult to verify.

AMMAN (Reuters) – The Syrian army has stepped up an offensive on opposition Sunni Muslim strongholds in the central city of Homs, bringing in ground forces and loyalist militia to try to secure a major road junction, opposition sources said on Friday.

Around 15,000 Sunni civilians are trapped on the southern and western edge of the city near the intersection of Syria’s main north-south and east-west arteries, crucial to let the army travel between Damascus and the Mediterranean coast, opposition campaigners in Homs said.

AMMAN (Reuters) – The Syrian army has stepped up an offensive on opposition Sunni Muslim strongholds in the central city of Homs, bringing in ground forces to try to secure passage for its forces through a major road junction, opposition sources said on Friday.

Around 15,000 Sunni civilians were trapped on the southern and western edge of the city on Friday near the intersection of Syria’s main north-south and east-west arteries, crucial to let Assad’s forces travel between Damascus and the Mediterranean coast, opposition campaigners in Homs said.

AMMAN (Reuters) – The Syrian army has stepped up an offensive on opposition Sunni Muslim strongholds in the central city of Homs, bringing in ground forces to try to secure passage for its forces through a major road junction, opposition sources said on Friday.

Around 15,000 Sunni civilians were trapped on the southern and western edge of the city on Friday near the intersection of Syria’s main north-south and east-west arteries, crucial to let Assad’s forces travel between Damascus and the Mediterranean coast, opposition campaigners in Homs said.

ISTANBUL/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian opposition leaders said on Monday they had failed to put together a transitional government to run rebel-held areas of the country, a blow to the exiled group trying to present an alternative to President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

Political efforts to resolve the conflict have largely faltered because of the rebels’ failure to form a unified front and because world powers are backing opposing sides.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Syrian opposition leaders said on Monday they had failed to agree on a transitional government to run rebel-held areas, dealing a fresh blow to their efforts to present a credible alternative to President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

The Syrian National Coalition (SNC) said in a statement that a five-member committee would put forward proposals on forming a government within 10 days, after talks in an Istanbul hotel broke up without agreement on an interim prime minister.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The head of Syria’s opposition coalition has flown to Qatar to secure promises of financial aid for a transitional government in rebel-held areas, sources at negotiations in Istanbul said on Sunday.

The talks on agreeing a transitional government had been hit by disagreement over whether a transitional government could survive when the Syrian National Coalition President Moaz Alkhatib left in the middle of deliberations, the sources said.