Syria's Aleppo Pounded as Clashes Resume
Clashes resumed between the Syrian army and rebels in the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday as several districts of the commercial hub came under shelling, a witness and a watchdog reported.
After an eerily quiet morning, a resident reported renewed regime bombardments of the Kalasseh and Bustan al-Qasr districts in the south, Suleiman al-Halabi in the center and Bustan al-Basha in the north.
"There are clashes now in the Old City," a mainly Christian area of the commercial hub, the resident told AFP.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that five people, including a child were killed, in shelling of the rebel stronghold of Sakhur in the east, and 12 people killed altogether in Aleppo province.
Drinking water supplies -- cut off in many areas of the city after a main pipe was blown open during fighting and air raids on Saturday -- were restored after repairs, the resident said.
But shortages persisted in the northeast of the city, including in Bustan al-Basha.
"The rebels have been trying for three days to enter Midan (in central Aleppo). Last night the army launched an operation and pushed them north, back toward Bustan al-Basha," according to the resident.
In the capital, meanwhile, an explosion rocked the upscale western district of Mazzeh overnight, and pro-regime gunmen fought rebels in Barzeh, another wealthy neighborhood in the northeast, the Observatory said.
Fierce clashes broke out south of the capital in Tadamun and the nearby Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp, the watchdog said, adding that three civilians were killed in shelling of the area of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad nearby.
Just south of Damascus, at least one man was killed by sniper fire as clashes raged in the towns of Babila and Yalda, where the army launched a large-scale operation, the Observatory said.
At least nine people, including a woman and child, were killed in shelling of houses in the town of Kfar Zeita in the central province of Hama, according to the Observatory.
In Deir Ezzor province in the east, warplanes bombarded the town of Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border, killing four people, including three women. They also hit several districts of Deir Ezzor city, where clashes broke out and rebels deployed anti-aircraft guns.
One man was killed in the northwestern city of Idlib as fierce clashes broke out between the rebels and military backed by aircraft.
The watchdog gave an initial toll of at least 36 people killed nationwide on Tuesday -- 33 of them civilians -- after a day in which 139 lives were claimed.
More than 27,000 people have been killed since the revolt against President Bashar Assad broke out in May 2011, according to the Observatory, which gathers its information from a network of sources on the ground.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/53183 |