Syrian Warplanes Bomb Rebels in Damascus, Says NGO
Regime forces bombarded rebel positions in Damascus and its surroundings on Saturday with air raids and artillery fire, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"Air raids targeted parts of Jubar... and Barzeh," two neighborhoods on the eastern outskirts of the Syrian capital where rebels and government forces have battled for months.
Fighting was also reported around dawn on the outskirts of the Palestinian Yarmuk camp in southern Damascus, which also came under regime fire along with southern Al-Hajar al-Aswad.
Outside the capital, loyalist troops fired mortar rounds at several areas including western Moadamiyet al-Sham, southern Sbeineh and the region of Wadi Barada, northwest of Damascus.
The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, doctors and lawyers on the ground, said the shelling caused both casualties and damage.
Elsewhere, regime forces shelled parts of the central Homs region, Aleppo in the north and southern Daraa.
Damascus has pledged to launch an assault to retake the northern city of Aleppo and its surroundings, large swathes of which are under rebel control, in the wake of its capture of the town of Qusayr in Homs province.
In Minbej, in Aleppo province, the Observatory reported a deal on "unified action... to push back the regime" was agreed between a Kurdish group and rebels.
Relations between the Kurds and opposition fighters have at times been tense, in part because the community has sought to protect its towns and villages by refusing to allow rebels to operate from them.
In the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the Observatory said the local rebel military council had charged two battalions with following up on "security matters" to prevent sectarian violence.
The decision comes after fighting in the village of Hatlah left at least 60 Shiite residents dead, and prompted remaining Shiite inhabitants to flee the majority-Sunni hamlet.
The assault on the village by rebels, most of whom are Sunni Muslims, came a day after pro-regime militia from Hatlah attacked an opposition post.
Source: Agence France Presse
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