Dozens killed in Syria's Aleppo amid push for talks

DAMASCUS: Dozens of people were killed in fighting in Syria's Aleppo province Friday as an international envoy prepared a Middle East tour ahead of proposed peace talks next month. UN-Arab League representative Lakhdar Brahimi's visit, which begins Saturday, comes as the international community ramps up efforts to convene a peace conference in Geneva. But the prospects for the talks, dubbed Geneva 2, remain unclear, with the Syrian opposition divided and due to vote next week on whether to take part. On the ground, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported dozens of deaths in the northern province of Aleppo, including 12 Kurds killed by regime shelling in the town of Tal-Aran, where nine people were died the same way on Thursday. The town lies on a strategic route between Aleppo city and Sfeirah, a town under rebel control near a military base where the regime is believed to store some of its chemical arsenal. Elsewhere in the province, the Observatory said at least 20 regime troops and seven rebels were killed after opposition forces attacked an air defence base southwest of Aleppo city. In eastern Syria, the Observatory reported ongoing fighting in the city of Deir Ezzor, with regime warplanes carrying out raids. Rebels had earlier made advances in the Rashdiya neighbourhood of the city, where a top intelligence officer, Major General Jamaa Jamaa, was killed on Thursday. State television said Jamaa was "martyred while carrying out his national duties to defend Syria and its people and pursuing terrorists in Deir Ezzor." The Observatory said Jamaa, who was in charge of military intelligence in Deir Ezzor province, was hit by sniper fire during clashes in Rashdiya between troops and jihadist fighters. It also reported that fighters of the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front executed 10 soldiers after capturing them during the clashes.