Syrian media say rocket fire on coastal city kills 2

Rockets hit several districts in Syria’s coastal city of Latakia, a stronghold of President Bashar Assad, on Thursday, killing two civilians and wounding 13, the state-run news agency reported.

It said the rockets were fired by “terrorists” — a term Syrian authorities use to refer to all rebels fighting to topple Assad. Explosions are rare in Latakia, which has remained relatively sidelined in the country’s civil war.

Syrian opposition groups also reported the Latakia attack, without providing further details.

The city has been tense following the alleged fatal shooting of a senior military officer by Suleiman Assad, a relative of the president, over a road rage incident last week. Around 1,000 rallied this week, demanding the execution of Suleiman, who was arrested Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a two-day cease-fire between Hezbollah fighters and rebel groups in the northern town of Zabadani, as well as in Foua and Kfarya, two Shiite villages in Idlib province, was extended for another 48 hours on Thursday.

Hezbollah and Syrian troops have been trying to fully capture the one-time rebel stronghold of Zabadani, near the border with Lebanon, for more than a month. A coalition of rebel groups retaliated by attacking Foua and Kfarya. A large number of civilians are trapped there by the fighting.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said negotiations are focused on securing safe passage for Ahrar al-Sham and other rebels groups out of Zabadani in exchange for allowing humanitarian aid and food to the besieged Foua and Kfarya.

Activists say the cease-fire was brokered with the help of Turkish-Iranian mediation. Turkey is a strong supporter of Syrian rebels fighting to oust Assad while Iran is a key backer of the Syrian government.

Syria’s conflict has killed at least 250,000 people since it erupted in March 2011, according to the United Nations.

Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on Thursday condemned the Syrian government’s intensified bombing of civilians and civilian infrastructure, saying the government has dropped over 2,000 barrel bombs since the first week of July, killing hundreds of people and destroying schools, mosques, markets, hospitals and ambulances across the country.

“Bashar al Assad continues to lie blatantly to the media and his own people, feigning ignorance about his forces’ use of what appears to have become their weapon of choice,” Power said in a statement.

“It is long past time for the international community to come together to end the deplorable use of barrel bombs and all other forms of attacks against civilians in Syria.”