Syria firing Scud missiles at rebels

The Syrian regime has fired Scud-type missiles against rebel forces in what Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen yesterday said was an act of desperation.
"I can confirm that we have detected the launch of Scud-type missiles; we strongly regret that act," Rasmussen said, adding: "I consider it an act of a desperate regime approaching collapse."
The latest launches were detected on Thursday, a source close to Nato said.
The use of such missiles by President Basahar al-Assad's regime also highlights the "need for effective defence and protection of our ally Turkey," Rasmussen said, referring to the planned deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries along its southern border with Syria.
Rasmussen stressed that the missiles had not landed on Turkish territory but they nonetheless posed a potential threat which had to be countered.
The Patriot deployment, to be made by Nato allies the United States, Germany and the Netherlands, is for a "defensive purpose only," he said.
Meanwhile, he UN Security Council on Thursday slapped sanctions on two Iranian firms accused of supplying arms to the Syrian government, a UN statement said.
Yas Air and the SAD Import Export Company were added to a growing Iran sanctions list for breaching an arms embargo ordered against the Islamic republic for its nuclear drive.
According to diplomats, Turkish authorities intercepted arms shipments organized by Yas Air to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.
US ambassador Susan Rice said that Yas Air and SAD were "significantly involved in Iranian arms smuggling."