The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes in Jobar and shelling and airstrikes on the nearby areas of Zamalka and Qaboun. He said rebels were within a mile of Abbasid Square in central Damascus and were firing mortars at a military base near the landmark plaza. Abu al-Fida said one checkpoint changed hands twice on Thursday but was securely in rebel hands Friday. The city is heavily fortified and activists say it is surrounded with three of the most loyal divisions of the army, including the Republican Guard and the feared 4th Division, commanded by President Bashar Assad’s brother Maher.įriday’s fighting revolved around the capital’s main highway heading toward the country’s north. This battle is to prepare for the entry into Damascus,” he said via Skype, giving only his nickname, Abu al-Fida, for fear of reprisals. The videos appeared genuine and corresponded to activist reports.Ī spokesman for one of the opposition groups fighting in the area said the rebels sought to open a path for a future assault on the city. Smoke rose up from a number of areas nearby, reflecting clashes and government shelling. Online videos showed a row of burning tires blocking all traffic as fighters with automatic rifles patrolled the area. On Friday, rebels shut down the highway out of the capital for several hours, activists said. Opposition fighters and government forces have been clashing in the area since. The latest fighting in Damascus, some of the heaviest to hit the city since July, began Wednesday with a series of rebel attacks on regime checkpoints along a key road from Damascus to northern Syria. It evolved into a civil war as the opposition took up arms to fight a government crackdown on dissent. Syria’s crisis began in March 2011 with largely peaceful protests inspired by the Arab Spring revolts elsewhere in the region that toppled longtime Arab dictators. The latest Damascus offensive, launched from the northeastern side of the city, did not appear to be coordinated with rebels on other sides of the capital, and it was unclear whether the opposition fighters would be able to hold their ground.Ī rebel advance on Damascus, which has largely been spared the destruction of other cities, is likely to trigger a fresh wave of refugees into Jordan and Lebanon, where resources are already stretched to the breaking point. Since then the fighting has been locked in a deadly stalemate, with the war-ravaged city carved up into government- and opposition-held strongholds. “I imagine Aleppo would be a small example of what is likely to happen in Damascus.”Īleppo, Syria’s largest urban center and main commercial hub, has been convulsed by violence since the summer, when rebels launched an offensive to take control of the city. “Any attempt by the rebels to advance into central Damascus would mean the beginning of a very long fight,” said Syrian activist Rami Jarrah. The clashes raised fears that Damascus, a major cultural center and one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, could fall victim to a protracted battle that would bring the destruction seen in other major cities and trigger a mass refugee exodus into neighboring countries. Syrian rebels brought their fight within a mile of the heart of Damascus on Friday, seizing army checkpoints and cutting a key highway with a row of burning tires as they pressed their campaign for the heavily guarded capital, considered the likely endgame in the nearly 2-year-old civil war.
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