Syria army escalates bombing campaign near Damascus

PanARMENIAN.Net - Syrian government forces Monday, February 20 escalated their bombing campaign around Damascus, raining shells down on rebel territory and sending out a "bloody message" just days before renewed peace talks in Geneva, Reuters reports.

Representatives from the opposition and of President Bashar al-Assad's regime are to head to Switzerland on Thursday for another attempt to end their country's brutal six-year war.

But regime forces Monday escalated their bombing of the edges of Syria's capital, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and activists on the ground.

"Regime air strikes killed four people and wounded another 15 in escalation on Barzeh," a northern rebel-held district of Damascus, the Observatory said.

The Britain-based monitor said rockets also hit the northeastern opposition-controlled neighbourhood of Qabun overnight and into Monday morning.

Rebels and regime forces reached a local ceasefire deal in Qabun in 2014, but violence has built up in the neighbourhood since last week.

At least 16 people were killed on Saturday in government rocket fire on a funeral in Qabun, according to the Observatory.

"This is the third day of bombardment -- rockets, artillery, mortars, and air strikes," said media activist Hamza Abbas, speaking to AFP via internet from Qabun, where he said he could hear non-stop shelling.

"The bombardment is targeting three neighbourhoods -- Qabun, Barzeh, and Tishreen," Abbas said.

A Syrian military source contacted by AFP declined to comment on the operations.