Violence rages across Syria as UN mission clock ticks

Heavy clashes raged between Syrian troops and rebels on Saturday, with at least 24 people killed nationwide, as the clock ticked down on a 30-day "final" extension of a troubled UN observer mission. Activists reported fierce fighting in the country's second city Aleppo, with regime forces shelling several neighbourhoods, as at least seven people were reported dead in the capital, most killed by snipers. The violence came a day after the Security Council voted unanimously to grant a "final" 30-day extension to the UN Supervision Mission for Syria charged with overseeing a tattered peace plan. Speaking in Croatia on Saturday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply distressed by the rising death toll," warning that the limited extension of the UN mission showed "the onus is above all on the parties, with the Syrian government in the first place who must stop the killings." And French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Paris that it was time "for the opposition to get going and take over the reins of the country." The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fighting in several districts of Aleppo, including in the central Salaheddin district. "Violent clashes are taking place between Syrian regime  forces and rebel fighters in the Sakhur neighbourhood and the Haydariya area," it said, adding troops were "using heavy machineguns and artillery." The Local Coordination Committees -- a grassroots activist network -- reported "an exodus of residents from the (Salaheddin) neighbourhood because of fear of regime bombardment and an offensive." In Damascus, residents said the city was largely calm after days of heavy clashes, although fighting was reported in Al-Hajar Al-Aswad and Tadamon districts and the Observatory said at least seven people were killed in the capital. A resident of the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk, on the outskirts of the capital, said he had not left since Wednesday. "It's dangerous to leave the camp because there are snipers posted at the entrance and they shoot at any gathering." The group's head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that the Kurdish region near Aleppo surrounding the town of Afrin had "fallen to the resistance" this week. "The authorities now only really control some 50 to 60 percent of the country," he said. By mid-afternoon, the Observatory said the nationwide death toll stood at 24, including 12 civilians, four soldiers and eight rebels. And in Homs, a mutiny was underway at the town's central prison, an activist told AFP, saying he feared "a massacre" at the facility, which was surrounded by tanks after several guards defected and prisoners took over part of the jail. The pace of violence in the country has ramped up in recent days, particularly after a Wednesday bombing -- claimed by the rebel Free Syrian Army -- which killed four senior regime members, including national security chief General Hisham Ikhtiyar, who died of his wounds on Friday. The others killed in the blast, Defence Minister General Daoud Rajha, Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and General Hassan Turkmani, head of the regime's crisis cell on the uprising, were given a state funeral on Friday. The nationwide death toll the day after the attack stood at 302 people, the highest of the 16-month uprising, the Observatory said. On several of Syria's borders rebel forces were trying to take or hold crossing points. Iraqi officials said rebel forces had held onto the Albu Kamal crossing on the Euphrates river after capturing it on Thursday, and that fighters had retaken the Rabiyah crossing on the northern border between the two countries. A third crossing between the two was still controlled by regime forces. Rebels also reportedly held the Bab al-Hawa crossing between Turkey and Syria, with truck drivers arriving in Turkey accusing the fighters of looting their vehicles. And in Jordan, a security official told AFP that Free Syrian Army fighters had tried to overrun the Nassib border crossing, but were repulsed by government troops. UN Security Council permanent members Russia and China on Friday both voted in favour of a resolution extending the mandate of UNSMIS for a "final" 30 days, after blocking an earlier text that could have imposed sanctions. The resolution says the council could consider a further extension if violence reduces sufficiently to allow the mission "to implement its mandate." US ambassador Susan Rice said the resolution would allow the observers "to withdraw safely and orderly" but that it was "unlikely" that the violence would ease enough to allow a continued UN presence. But Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin insisted: "This is not a resolution about withdrawal, it is a resolution about continuation of the activity of the mission."