video transcript

Amateur video posted on a social media website purportedly shows Syrian government tanks set ablaze. The footage - which cannot be independently verified by Reuters - shows the result of ongoing clashes in the capital Damascus between rebel fighters and state forces. Other video shows a line of covered bodies lying in a mass grave. Clashes also appear to have erupted near the Syrian government headquarters in the capital - here smoke rises from buildings said to be the government cabinet offices. The fighting comes in the wake of an explosion on Wednesday that killed Assad's brother-in-law, defence minister and a top general. On Thursday Major General Robert Mood, the Chief of the United Nations mission in Syria, condemned the attack. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SUPERVISION MISSION IN SYRIA (UNSMIS) HEAD, MAJOR GENERAL ROBERT MOOD: "I expressed my condemnation of the attack yesterday to the Syrian government and I call on all parties to end the bloodshed and violence in all its forms, recommitting to a peaceful solution to this conflict." The UN must now decide whether to extend its 90 day U.N. peace monitoring mission before its mandate expires on Friday, but the Security Council members are split over whether stronger action is needed. Simon Hanna, Reuters.