In this Sunday October 7, 2012 citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Free Syrian Army fighters sit on top of a military truck that was captured from the Syrian Army in the village off Khirbet al-Jouz, in the northern province of Idlib, Syria. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)

PARIS (AP) — France's foreign minister says Syria's air force is using so-called barrel bombs — makeshift weapons consisting of containers stuffed with TNT — to heavily damage neighborhoods.

Laurent Fabius said Wednesday that Syrian leader Bashar Assad's regime has "entered a new phase in the violence by using MIG (aircraft) and dropping barrels of TNT."

He confirmed what delegates from rebel-held zones in Syria were saying as a meeting got under way in Paris aimed at extending a French initiative of direct aid to local councils in so-called liberated zones of Syria. Some 20 countries were taking part in the meeting.

Earlier this month, Syrian refugees said their villages in Homs province had come under heavy air attack from barrel bombs.

Associated Press
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