A rebel fighter sits on chairs as he aims his weapon through a hole inside a house in the town of Morek in Hama province on Monday.
Eastern Damascus was hit yesterday by its fiercest fighting in months, a monitor said, as rebels stepped up a bid to break a siege and pro-regime forces tried to stop them.
The air force pounded the rebel-held eastern neighbourhood of Jobar, as opposition fighters launched mortars into army-held parts of Damascus, killing one person and wounding others, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
An AFP correspondent near the area said “very loud explosions could be heard starting late last night up until Tuesday afternoon.”
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said: “Starting dawn Tuesday, Jobar saw the fiercest fighting in months, coupled with intense aerial bombardment.”
“Jobar is under army control, and the fighting is taking place on the neighbourhood’s edges,” he said.
The air force carried out at least nine strikes on the neighbourhood, he said, adding rebels were fighting troops backed by pro-regime paramilitary forces.
Jobar, on the eastern edge of Damascus, is important because it is located at the entrance to the besieged, rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area on the outskirts of the capital.
It also neighbours Abbasiyeen, one of Damascus’ main squares where the army “deployed tanks... and shelled rebel areas of Jobar”, said Abdel Rahman.
Fighting in the area has intensified following a relative lull for months, after rebels launched an offensive and took an army checkpoint in Jobar.
The army has since reclaimed the checkpoint.
Meanwhile, rebel fighters fired mortar rounds at regime-controlled areas of Damascus, killing one person and wounding several others, the Observatory said.
State news agency Sana also reported the mortar attack, but said 18 people were wounded.
Mortar shells also hit the mixed Christian-Druze suburb of Jaramana, which is under army control, killing two civilians, said the Observatory.
The air force pounded the nearby rebel-held areas of Irbin and Hammuriyeh, killing a man and a child.
It also launched three air strikes on Mleiha, a rebel bastion in Eastern Ghouta that the army has been fighting to reclaim for months because of its strategic position near the Damascus airport road.
Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, have waged a campaign for more than a year to crush rebel positions near Damascus.
Eastern Ghouta, a rebel rear base that the army has besieged for more than a year, was the scene of a massive chemical attack in August that killed hundreds.
EU expands sanctions on Syria
European Union foreign ministers agreed yesterday to expand sanctions on Syria over the government’s “violent repression” of its civilian population.
The ministers added three people and nine entities to the current list of those subject to an asset freeze and a ban on entering the EU, a statement said.
They were targeted “due to their involvement in the violent repression of the civilian population or their support to the regime”, it added.
The names added to the list are expected to be published today.
The decision brings the total number of people on the EU Syria sanctions list to 192, alongside 62 entities.
In May, Brussels extended existing sanctions against Syria for another year, including an oil embargo and asset freezes against allies of President Bashar al-Assad.
