Syrian troops shell Damascus outskirts
2013-01-08 12:27
Beirut - Syrian troops bombarded rebel bastions on the outskirts of Damascus
before dawn on Tuesday while fighting had erupted for control of the
northwestern town of Mastuma, a watchdog said.
Troops shelled the towns of Maliha and Beit Saham to the southeast of the
capital near the Damascus airport road and the town of Douma to the northeast,
the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
It said that army reinforcements were also arriving at Daraya in a bid to
regain control of the town, where hundreds were killed in August in the
bloodiest massacre of the 21-month conflict.
The Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a network of opposition activists
on the ground, reported that Daraya and nearby Moadamiyet al-Sham came under
heavy shelling from the elite Fourth Division and Brigade 105 stationed in the
area.
A military source said that a rocket-propelled-grenade hit an armoured troop
carrier on Monday in the orchards west of Moadamiyet al-Sham, causing
casualties.
Maintaining grip
Analysts say the Syrian regime is focused on maintaining its grip on the key
axis stretching from Damascus to the central province of Homs and on to the
coastal Alawite heartland after its forces were driven from large swathes of
territory in the north and east by rebels.
The Observatory said that in the northwest province of Idlib, displaced
residents of the town of Mastuma reported troops storming the area during the
night, clashing with rebels and executing a number of local men.
A military source had earlier saidthat the army drove rebels out of Mastuma,
just south of Idlib city, with the support of a "special tasks
battalion".
The Observatory said fighting for control of the town was still raging.
"There were fierce clashes starting from last night and they are
continuing this morning. For sure there were people killed in clashes and by
execution but we are not sure how many," Observatory director Rami Abdel
Rahman said.
Detention centre
The residents said that snipers had been deployed throughout the town and
that troops were stationed in the nearby Baath party camp, which according to
the Observatory was turned into a military detention centre in the summer of
2011.
Abdel Rahman noted that the detention centre was a strategic target for its
stores of tanks and weapons.
Elsewhere in the province, a military source said that clashes had erupted
around the strategic Wadi Deif base, which has been under attack since
opposition fighters took over the nearby town of Maaret al-Numan in early
October.
Tuesday's violence comes after 78 people were killed nationwide on Monday -
48 civilians, 18 rebels and 12 soldiers - according to the Observatory, which
collects information from a network of medics and activists on the ground.
The United Nations estimates more than 60 000 people have been killed since
a brutal crackdown by President Bashar Assad's forces on peaceful protests 21
months ago stirred the violence.
