Brahimi questions Syria 'civil war' as ceasefire fails

Violence has again marred the last day of what is supposed to be a four-day ceasefire in Syria. At least 10 people have been killed by a car bomb in the capital Damascus. The truce arranged by UN and Arab League special envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi was supposed to hold over the Islamic festive period of Eid al-Adha. Both the Syrian government and opposition forces are blaming each other for the continued attacks. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims four hundred and twenty people have died since Friday. Meanwhile, Brahimi has met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Describing the ongoing situation, Brahimi said: “I have been calling what is happening in Syria ‘a civil war’. And as a matter of fact, one of the very, very few things; perhaps the only thing both sides agree about is that it is not a civil war. “I saw a woman speaking on one of television channels saying that she has one son in the regular army and another son in the Free Syrian Army. If it’s that not a civil war, I don’t know what is?” Despite the ceasefire, fierce fighting between the opposition Free Syrian Army and government troops also took place over the weekend in the country’s largest city Aleppo.