DAMASCUS: The Syrian regime has fired Scud missiles at rebel forces trying to oust Bashar al-Assad, a US official said Wednesday, after Arab and Western states recognized the opposition bloc as the sole representative there.

“Scuds landed within Syria,” the official told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity.

Earlier Wednesday an Agence France-Presse journalist in northwestern Syria reported hearing several fierce explosions daily from up to 15 kilometers away.

State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said “we’re seeing missiles employed now” but she refused to divulge intelligence on what type of missile.

But the US official speaking later said he could confirm a New York Times story that the regime was unleashing Scuds.

There was no word of any casualties caused by the Soviet-era weapons, famously fired into Israel by Iraq’s Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War.

The unguided, short-range ballistic Scud missiles, depending on the type employed, have a range of 200 kilometers or more.

Putting further pressure on the Assad regime on Wednesday, Arab and Western states recognized the opposition National Coalition as the sole representative of Syrians.

The declaration, issued at a “Friends of Syria” meeting in Morocco, coincided with battlefield gains by jihadists fighting Assad’s forces and a rapidly deteriorating refugee situation as winter sets in.

“Today, full recognition is given to the National Coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people,” Moroccan Foreign Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani told a news conference after the meeting his government hosted in Marrakesh.

The talks on the 21-month-old conflict brought together representatives from 114 countries, including about 60 ministers, the Syrian opposition and international organizations.

They came just a day after US President Barack Obama endorsed the National Coalition, following a similar move by the European Union.

The Friends of Syria again called on Assad to stand down, and stressed that his regime would not escape punishment for violations of international law.

A statement also warned Damascus against using chemical weapons, saying this “would draw a serious response from the international community.”

British Foreign Secretary William Hague described the growing recognition of the National Coalition as “real progress.”

“Then the important thing is to channel more assistance through them—in our case . . . non-lethal assistance . . . and then of course we need more humanitarian aid.”

Those at the meeting also called for unimpeded access for humanitarian groups inside Syria.

Coalition spokesman Yaser Tabbara underlined hopes the Marrakesh meeting would help alleviate a mounting humanitarian crisis and support the needs of “liberated” areas, in terms of salaries and services, which the group estimates at nearly $500 million a month.

In the latest violence, at least seven people were killed and 50 wounded when three bombs struck the main entrance of the interior ministry in Damascus, a security official said.

Interior Minister Mohammad al-Shaar and other top ranking officials escaped unharmed, state television reported.