Syria: airstrikes kill dozens in rebel-held territory

Airstrikes hit towns in Syria's rebel-held northern Idlib and Aleppo provinces, killing killing at least 20 people. The attacks came as rights monitors reported 28 thousand people have been taken by soldiers or militia, and are now nowhere to be found. They say they have the names of 18 thousand people missing since anti-government protests began a year and a half ago, and know of another 10 thousand cases. The Syrian government has so far not commented on the claims but has in the past denied reports of human rights abuses. Meanwhile, the recently re-elected UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, is warning that the conflict in Syria is likely to descend into an all out sectarian war, as the international community remains divided on how to end the 18 month crisis.
"Thousands and thousands of men, women and children have already been killed, injured, tortured, displaced," she said. Pillay said the the indiscriminate use of heavy weaponry by government forces may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity, and further admonished that memories of what happened in Bosnia were still fresh enough to serve as a warning to the international community about their inaction on the Syrian crisis. Listen to this report from regional correspondent Nathan Morley: