BEIRUT: Syrian rebels poured reinforcements into a key Damascus suburb yesterday in an attempt to push back government troops who have renewed their campaign to secure the capital and build on battlefield gains elsewhere in the country.
Fighting centred on Qaboun, a rebel-held district where Syrian troops backed by tanks and artillery had made inroads on Monday as part of efforts to consolidate control over Damascus, President Bashar Al Assad’s power base.
The increasingly fragmented and brutal nature of the war was illustrated by an incident in Homs province, where gunmen loyal to Assad shot dead at least six mediators sent to try to reconcile warring sectarian groups in an area where opposing sides had until now been able to coexist.
Residents said the killings on Monday in the village of Hajar Al Abyad highlighted the growing challenge of mediating between towns held by rebel groups and those controlled by pro-Assad militias known as “shabbiha”.
In a separate incident near the Turkish border in the north, Islamist rebel fighters from the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front clashed with Kurdish armed men and took a gunman hostage. The Kurds said they had killed eight Nusra Front militants in what they said was a territorial dispute.
Britain, meanwhile, said it would give Syrian rebels equipment to protect themselves against chemical and biological weapons as “a matter of special urgency”. Britain has said forces loyal to Assad have made limited use of chemical weapons, which the Syrian government denies.
Abu Nidal, a rebel spokesman in Damascus, said yesterday that his fighters were trying to prevent the army advancing further into Qaboun, which it entered on Monday.
Elsewhere, nine people including a child were killed at an army checkpoint. Also, mortar bombs were being fired by the army into the southern district of Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp on the edge of central Damascus.
Activists said that at least five mortar shells hit the Damascus neighbourhood of Masaken Barze, injuring several people. Clashes and bombardment were reported by activists in nearly every province yesterday, from central Homs city to the northwestern farming province of Idlib to the eastern desert city of Deir Al Zor. In the south of Syria near the Israeli border, clashes were reported between rebels and government forces in the village of Al Qahtaniya.
The Syrian government approved a law imposing penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment for people caught hoarding food in the war-torn country. “A draft law penalising those who raise food prices or hoard food has been approved” by the cabinet, said the broadcaster.
The decision was passed amid an unprecedented financial and food crisis sparked by the 28-month conflict. The penalties “range from imprisonment to a fine, depending on the crime committed,” said state television.
Mortar fire hits Golan
Meanwhile, mortar fire from inside Syria hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights causing several wildfires to break out along the ceasefire line. The apparently stray rounds struck as Syrian rebels and regime forces battled near Quneitra which lies in no-man’s land, the correspondent reported. Several Israeli tanks were stationed in the area.
Agencies
