watchdog: Syria warplanes bomb rebel district of Homs

Syrian warplanes bombed a rebel neighborhood of Homs on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that it was the first time that fighter jets had been used against the central city. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that the bombardment of the Khaldiyeh district was the heaviest to hit Syria’s third-largest city in five months. Activist network the Syrian Revolution General Council said a series of large explosions rocked the neighborhood after the bombing runs, but had no immediate word on any casualties. “It seems like the regime has a limited window to use its warplanes, because it is throwing everything it can at the rebels in Homs,” Abdel Rahman said. Shelling by the army elsewhere in Homs province killed four members of a single family, including a woman, early on Friday, the Observatory said. In the hill resort of Zabadani, a rebel bastion outside Damascus, two civilians were killing in an army bombardment, the Britain-based watchdog added. Ahram online