Syria Military battles Rebels in eastern Damascus.

FOREIGN, NEWS:


Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-
Assad hit rebel-held eastern districts of
Damascus on Tuesday with mortar bombs,
artillery and air strikes, opposition activists
said.

The assault was focused on Zamalka and
Irbin, on the edge of the government-
controlled centre of the capital, according
to the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights.
Rebels in the capital’s outskirts say they are
facing a slow but steady army advance.

A rebel push into the city a year ago was
seen at the time as heralding Assad’s fall,
but his forces, with support from his Shi’ite
Muslim allies, have fought back.
If they retake eastern districts of
Damascus, mostly Sunni Muslim rebels
would lose arms supply routes and suffer a
severe blow in their drive to end four
decades of Assad family rule.
“The areas of Irbin and Zamalka were
exposed to bombings by regular forces,
mortar bombs and heavy artillery,’’ the
British-based Syrian Observatory said.

It said there were reports of casualties
from air raids, but gave no details.
Rebels say their prospects for reversing
Assad’s gains in Damascus may now hinge
on military support from Western and Arab
backers.
The U.S. announced unspecified military aid
this month.

More than 93,000 people have been killed
in the Syrian conflict, which began as a
popular anti-Assad protest movement but
has descended into a civil war with
sectarian overtones.

Nearly 1.7 million refugees have fled into
neighbouring countries, including Lebanon,
where clashes between armed groups
supporting opposing sides in Syria have
fuelled fears of a lapse back into sectarian
civil war.
Lebanon is still struggling to heal the
wounds of its 1975 to 1990 civil war.

The Beirut government is trying to restore
calm after Sunni militiamen clashed with
the army this week in the coastal cities of
Sidon and Tripoli.
They accuse the army of backing
Lebanon’s Shi’ite Hezbollah group fighting
on Assad’s side.
(Reuters/NAN)

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