Rebels launch fresh assault on capital
Rebels and jihadists launched a fresh assault on east Damascus yesterday, just two days before another round of UN-backed peace talks were set to get underway in Switzerland.
Clashes raged between regime forces on one side and opposition fighters and allied jihadists from the Fateh al-Sham Front, formerly al-Qaeda's branch in the war-ravaged country.
The renewed fighting in Damascus came two days after Syrian government forces repelled the largest rebel incursion into the capital in years.
An AFP journalist in east Damascus reported a large explosion at sunrise yesterday followed by fierce clashes, shelling and government air strikes on opposition positions.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the blast was likely caused by a rebel car bomb attack on a regime position between Jobar and Qabun districts.
The official SANA news agency said 12 people were wounded in rebel shelling.
Rebels hold half of the eastern neighbourhood of Jobar, a few kilometres (miles) from the city centre, and are seeking to link it to the besieged northern district of Qabun.
Syria's air force responded to the renewed rebel assault with raids on their positions while opposition fighters shelled the Abbasid and Tijara neighbourhoods near Jobar, the Observatory's Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Clashes on Sunday and Monday killed at least 72 people, including 38 government force members and 34 rebels and jihadists, according to the Observatory.
Repeated peace talks over the years have failed to bring about a political solution, but another round of negotiations is due to begin in Geneva on Thursday.
A UN spokeswoman told reporters in the Swiss city that "all invitees who had already attended" talks in February had confirmed they would take part.
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