Ya Libnan

Rebels battle Syrian forces in Damascus

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Bullets and shrapnel shells smashed into homes in the Syrian capital overnight, as troops battled rebels in the streets, in the heaviest fighting yet in Damascus. The violence marked an increased boldness among rebels in taking their fight against the regime of President Bashar Assad to the center of his power.

For nearly 12 hours of fighting that lasted into the early hours Saturday, rebels armed mainly with assault rifles fought Syrian forces. U.N. observers said rebels fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the local power plant, damaging parts of it and charring six buses, according to video the observers took of the scene.

Syrian forces showed the regime’s willingness to unleash elevated force in the capital: at least three tank shells slammed into residential areas in the central Damascus neighborhood of Qaboun, an activist said. Intense exchanges of assault-rifle fire marked the clash, according to residents and amateur videos.

At least 42 civilians were killed in violence around the country outside Damascus on Saturday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based activist group. Among them were 20, including nine women and children, who died in heavy, pre-dawn shelling in the southern city of Daraa, where the uprising against Assad began in March 2011. The group’s figures could not be independently confirmed.

In a Daraa mosque, a father stood over his son killed in the shelling, swaddled in a blanket.

“I will become a suicide bomber!” the father shouted in grief, according to an amateur video of the scene.

Later Saturday, tens of thousands of Daraa residents buried the slain from the shelling. They sang, danced and paraded the dead in coffins around a large square, giving the mass funeral the appearance of a mass wedding party, according to footage of the scene.

The Damascus violence was a dramatic shift, since the capital has been relatively quiet compared with other Syrian cities throughout the uprising. Damascus, Assad’s stronghold, and the northern city of Aleppo, the country’s largest, are under the firm grip of security forces.

CBS

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6 responses to “Rebels battle Syrian forces in Damascus”

  1. rossoferrari Avatar
    rossoferrari

    Any one with common sense on statistics would tell you that israel is not the enemy of the arab world, it seems. The arabs are their own enemy. How many innocent children, women and men have been killed and massacred at the hand of other “citizen fellows” recently in syria alone. Not including egypt, iraq, pakistan, afghanistan and God knows what is going on in iran. Arabs are infatuated by killing each others and determined to extinct themselves on their own hand. Arabs treat themselves as herds of cow or sheep, they just follow the leader blindly. They lack their self esteem to fight with words and not with arms. The ongoing barbaric tactics are utterly sickening and should not be tolerated by any one, including russia and china. They lack the sense of democracy as proven by the latest event in moscow to elect putin and action taken but not forgotten in tienanmen square. If they were to support the ousting of assad, that might embolden fellow russian and chinese citizens to demonstrate democratically against their government. Let’s not all fall for the manipulation of the world’s powers and act as their puppets so they can dominate and achieve their goals. Using religious ideology is becoming the tool of choice to kill people, which GOD taught humanity to kill our brethren so to conquer!!!! I was miffed before but I am in awe now.

    1. Mahdi Kenaani Avatar
      Mahdi Kenaani

      I agree, except that iran, afghanistan and pakistan arent arab countries.

      1. rossoferrari Avatar
        rossoferrari

        Mahdi, totally right!!  I am trying not to be pointed in my opinion:  moslems should not kill and blow up other moslems. My point, is whether christians moslems or other religions….such killing and massacres should not take place or tolerated by the community.

  2. rossoferrari Avatar
    rossoferrari

    Any one with common sense on statistics would tell you that israel is not the enemy of the arab world, it seems. The arabs are their own enemy. How many innocent children, women and men have been killed and massacred at the hand of other “citizen fellows” recently in syria alone. Not including egypt, iraq, pakistan, afghanistan and God knows what is going on in iran. Arabs are infatuated by killing each others and determined to extinct themselves on their own hand. Arabs treat themselves as herds of cow or sheep, they just follow the leader blindly. They lack their self esteem to fight with words and not with arms. The ongoing barbaric tactics are utterly sickening and should not be tolerated by any one, including russia and china. They lack the sense of democracy as proven by the latest event in moscow to elect putin and action taken but not forgotten in tienanmen square. If they were to support the ousting of assad, that might embolden fellow russian and chinese citizens to demonstrate democratically against their government. Let’s not all fall for the manipulation of the world’s powers and act as their puppets so they can dominate and achieve their goals. Using religious ideology is becoming the tool of choice to kill people, which GOD taught humanity to kill our brethren so to conquer!!!! I was miffed before but I am in awe now.

    1. Mahdi Kenaani Avatar
      Mahdi Kenaani

      I agree, except that iran, afghanistan and pakistan arent arab countries.

      1. rossoferrari Avatar
        rossoferrari

        Mahdi, totally right!!  I am trying not to be pointed in my opinion:  moslems should not kill and blow up other moslems. My point, is whether christians moslems or other religions….such killing and massacres should not take place or tolerated by the community.

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