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Syrian rebel army chief, Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad, denied in comments published on Monday that Kuwaitis were fighting alongside his men against forces of President Bashar al-Assad's government.

"Reports indicating the presence of Arab fighters (in Syria) are totally baseless," Asaad was quoted as saying by Kuwait's Al-Watan newspaper.

"There are no non-Syrian members in the FSA which consists only of Syrian soldiers and officers fighting to protect the revolution," the Turkey-based commander of the Free Syrian Army said.

On Sunday, Kuwait's Al-Qabas newspaper reported that dozens of Kuwaitis have crossed the Syrian-Turkish border to fight alongside the FSA, citing relatives of the fighters.

But Asaad insisted that the FSA does not need outside fighters, but only material and financial help.

Syrian troops attacked a rebel-held town in the center of the country with helicopter gunships on Monday and shelled other restive areas across the country, activists said.

The aerial assault targeted the strategic river crossing town of Rastan that has resisted repeated government offensives for months, they said.

It is part of an escalation of violence in recent weeks that comes despite an internationally-brokered cease-fire that was supposed to go into effect on April 12 but never took hold.

Syria's Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi recently said that rebels are now using sophisticated anti-tank missiles.

Videos posted by activists over the past week have shown many destroyed tanks and armored personnel carriers.

France said on Monday that it will hold talks with Russia on its idea of an international Syria conference including Iran and urged the new head of the Syrian National Council to unite the opposition.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.