The death toll in twenty months of fighting in Syria continues to show no sign of abating as another 38 civilians were added to the count after two car bombs exploded in a Damascus neighborhood on Wednesday. The latest slaughter came one day after rebels reportedly shot down a regime military helicopter with a heat-seeking land-t0-air missile near the besieged city of Aleppo. A resolution condemning the fighting was passed by a committee of the UN General Assembly. The measure, which is sponsored by Arab and Western nations, will be voted on in December by the General Assembly which has no enforcement powers because Russia and China continue to block any meaningful action in the Security Council. The sustained intensity of the fighting is being blamed by the Syrian regime on nations including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Libya and Qatar which Damascus says are arming and financing the rebel forces. On Thursday, rebel forces attacked the Wadi Deif military base, one of the last remaining regime military bases in the northwest. Syrians opposed to the continued rule of Bashar Al-Assad were buoyed with word that the Spanish government has formally recognized the Syrian National Council, the umbrella of opposition groups, as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.