Czech Republic to Represent U.S. Consular Interests in Syria

The Czech embassy in Damascus will represent U.S. interests in Syria after Poland, which had been taking on that function for the Americans after they pulled out in February, withdrew its diplomats last week.

"Following a request from the United States, the Czech Republic has agreed to represent U.S. consular interests in Syria," a Czech foreign ministry statement said Wednesday. Talks on "technical details" are underway, it added.

The move comes as violence escalated in the nearly 17-month uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime.

A top U.N. official confirmed Wednesday that the military had used fighter jets to fire on Aleppo, Syria's most populous city, as clashes also erupted near two traditional Christian districts of Damascus.

Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that more than 20,000 people have been killed in the violence since March 2011.