Middle East News

Syrian troops and rebels clash near Damascus, activists say

Feb 11, 2012, 7:34 GMT

Damaged military vehicles are seen behind a big hole by a car bomb that targeted the security compounds in Aleppo, Syria, 10 February 2012. A EPA/STR

Beirut - Clashes erupted Saturday between Syrian government troops and army deserters near the capital Damascus, opposition activists said.

As the fighting raged, the sounds of machine gun fire and exploding shells echoed in the area of Reef Damascus, located on the outskirts of the capital, Hani Abdullah, an activist based in Damascus, told dpa. He did not have information on casualties.

Meanwhile, activists based in northern Lebanon said the sounds of heavy shelling, targeting the Syrian area of Kussair near the northern Lebanese border, could be heard.

'Syrian troops have been heavily shelling Kussair since the early hours of the day because many activists and the defectors, who were in al-Khalidiyeh and Baba Amr (restive neighbourhoods in the Syrian province of Homs) have fled to Kussair,' activist Abu Raad told dpa.

The Syrian state news agency Saturday quoted the Interior Ministry as saying it would 'wipe out terrorism' and 'hunt down those who compromise the country's security and citizens.'

On Friday, at least 90 people were killed across Syria, including 28 people who died in twin suicide bombings at two security facilities in city of Aleppo. The Health Ministry said 235 people were wounded in the bombings.

While state media blamed the Aleppo attack on 'terrorist gangs,' the opposition accused President Bashar al-Assad's regime of masterminding the bombings to tarnish the rebels' image.

The head of the dissident Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riad al-Asaad, denied his comrades' involvement.

The 193-nation UN General Assembly is to hold a debate Monday on the situation in Syria, with an address by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

Pillay's spokesman, Rupert Colville, said in Geneva on Friday: 'We believe, and we've said it and we'll keep repeating it, that the case of Syria belongs in the International Criminal Court. This would give a very, very strong message to those running the show.'