Syrian air strike kills at least 54: activists http://reut.rs/UhN33h
12:50 PM - 20 Sep 12 · Details
1 of 8. Smoke rises above Aleppo after a heavy jet strike on the city September 19,2012.
Credit: Reuters/Zain Karam
By Erika Solomon and Oliver Holmes
BEIRUT | Thu Sep 20, 2012 4:21pm EDT
(Reuters) - At least 54 people were killed when a jet fighter blew up a fuel station amid heavy fighting between government and rebel forces in northernSyria on Thursday, a British-based monitoring group said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists across Syria reporting on government violence during the 18-month-old revolt, cited an activist in al-Raqqa province as saying more than 110 people were dead or wounded.
A video published by activists, said to be from al-Raqqa, showed black clouds of smoke rising from the wreckage of the petrol station as bewildered residents examined the scene following the attack by an air force jet.
Government forces shelled rebels near a border crossing with Turkeysome 30 km (18 miles) away on the northern fringes of al-Raqqa, a day after it was seized by the insurgents.
A Reuters witness on the Turkish side of the border heard heavy gunfire and explosions close to the Tel Abyad border post, where an opposition flag still fluttered. Residents rushed towards the border as the gunfire intensified.
It was impossible to verify the authenticity of the activists' video, and most foreign journalists are barred entry into Syria, making accounts of events difficult to confirm.
President Bashar al-Assad ha
