Azernews.Az

By Angus MacSwan and Dominic Evans Beirut, Heraldscotland

A peace envoy has called on Iran to help arrange a ceasefire in Syria during the Islamic holiday of Eid al Adha.

Lakhdar Brahimi appealed to the closest regional ally of Syrian President Bashar al Assad in a bid to stop the civil war. He suggested the truce be held during the holiday, which starts this month and lasts several days, and said it would "help create an environment that would allow a political process to develop".

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Salehi said Iran was ready to work with him for peace.

He said: "We all need to join hands so this conflict comes to a halt and further bloodshed is stopped."

However, with fighting raging yesterday in several Syrian cities and in the countryside, it was not clear if either side would want to put the brakes on any battlefield advantages.

The crucial battles in a conflict that has claimed more than 30,000 lives are being fought in an arc through western Syria, where most of the population lives.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two rebel-held districts in north-east Aleppo, al Shaar and Karm al Jabal, came under bombardment from Mr Assad's forces yesterday. It also reported fierce clashes in the district of Jdeideh, just north of the ancient citadel in Syria's biggest city.

Syrian television showed footage of soldiers inside Aleppo's Great Mosque, which dates back to the eighth century and was damaged in fighting between Government forces and rebels battling for control of the Old City.

In north-western Idlib province, Government war planes bombed several towns, the pro-opposition Observatory said.

Rebels had surrounded an army garrison on Sunday close to a north-western town in the latest push to seize more territory near the border with Turkey, opposition activists said. Several hundred soldiers were trapped in the siege of a base in Urum al Sughra, on the main road between Aleppo, Syria's commercial and industrial hub, and Turkey.

One of the activists, Firas Fuleifel, said: "Rebels attacked an armoured column sent from Aleppo to rescue the 46th Regiment at Urum al Sughra and stopped it in its tracks."

He said a jet was shot down while trying to provide air support to the column.

Mr Assad's forces still control the city of Idlib on a main highway linking Aleppo to the port of Latakia, making the route an important rebel target.

On the border with Turkey's Hatay province, the rebels appeared to have a tentative hold after four days of heavy fighting in the town of Azmarin and surrounding villages.

Meanwhile, Turkey yesterday ordered an Armenian plane flying to a Syrian city to land and searched its cargo, in the latest move to prevent its airspace being used to supply the Syrian military.

The plane was allowed to continue to Aleppo after the search in the eastern Turkish city of Erzurum confirmed it was carrying humanitarian aid.