Syrian govt. bombards Damascus ring road to halt rebel advance

PanARMENIAN.Net - Syrian government jets bombarded the Damascus ring road on Thursday, February 7 in a bid to halt a rebel advance which threatens President Bashar al-Assad's hold on the capital, insurgent commanders and opposition activists said, according to Reuters.

Warplanes fired rockets at southern parts of the route where rebels have spent the past 36 hours overrunning army positions and road blocks encircling the heart of the city, the site of key state security and intelligence installations.

Assad, battling to crush a 22-month-old revolt in which 60,000 people have died, has lost control of large parts of the country but his forces, backed by air power, have so far kept rebels away from the centre of Damascus.

Aby Ghazi, a rebel commander based in the eastern suburb of Irbreen, said the rebels have reached the edges of the city's main Abbaside Square where the Syrian military had turned a football stadium into barracks.

Activists said 46 people had died on Thursday, mostly from heavy army bombardment on the contested neighborhoods of Jobar and Zamalka which are near compounds housing Alawite forces.

A retired military officer in Damascus said the shelling of rebel areas was hitting civilians and fighters indiscriminately.