Syria: Damascus hit by some of heaviest fighting since start of uprising

The British-based Observatory, which has a network of activists across Syria,
said security forces and armoured vehicles stormed the neighbourhood of
Barzeh, an opposition toehold inside Damascus, and there were sounds of
heavy gunfire.

The revolt against Mr Assad’s rule has intensified in response to an army
crackdown, becoming a civil war. At least 10,000 people have been killed
since March 2011 according to the United Nations. Diplomats say the actual
number is much higher.

Fighting is now frequent in Damascus, once considered a bastion of Assad.

The observatory said over 100 people had been killed in violence on Monday,
including 65 civilians and at least 31 members of the security forces.

The highest reported death tolls were in southern Dera’a, where at least 18
were killed including a family of four who were executed, and in eastern
Deir al-Zor, where 17 people lost their lives, the activist centre said.

Video shot by activists in the city of Homs showed detonations from heavy
weapons and fiery plumes of black smoke rising over the rooftops of smashed
and abandoned buildings.

Aid workers were on their way back to Homs to try to evacuate trapped
civilians and wounded, but negotiations are still under way to secure safe
access, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in Geneva.

“We cannot foresee when the team will be able to do so.” ICRC
spokesman Bijan Farnoudi told Reuters.

Aid workers have sought access to the flashpoint city since government forces
and opposition groups agreed last week to the agency’s request for a
humanitarian pause in the fighting.

SANA said members of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS)
toured Tartous province on Monday and “inspected the calm, security and
stability prevailing”.

The 300-strong UN monitoring mission was suspended 10 days ago because it was
considered too dangerous to carry on sending teams out to supervise a truce
that exists on paper only.

UN special envoy Kofi Annan, who crafted the failed ceasefire and monitoring
plan in April, wants the five permanent members of the UN Security Council
and governments with influence on Mr Assad or the rebels to decide what to
do next, at a meeting pencilled in for June 30 in Geneva.

Source: Reuters

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