Heavy fighting reported in Damascus as rebels take on Assad stronghold

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian activists and witnesses said security forces clashed with gunmen in an upscale western neighborhood of the capital Damascus home to embassies and senior officials early Monday morning.

Some 80 troops loyal to President Bashar Assad were killed in the fighting, according to Al-Jazeera.

Fighting had resumed after a few hours of relative quiet. According to CNN, the fighting was taking place near embassies and security centers.

Later on Monday, France circulated a draft statement to the UN Security Council that would support efforts by international envoy Kofi Annan to end the violence in Syria and launch a political dialogue.

Annan asked the council on Friday to unite behind his effort to end the yearlong violence. He has sent a five-member team to Damascus to discuss practical steps to implement his proposal.

Britain’s UN Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters Monday that the council will discuss the draft presidential statement on Tuesday, as well as a weaker press statement proposed by Russia, Syria’s closest ally, on the recent attacks in Damascus and Aleppo.

The advance by the rebels is one of the boldest yet, deep into the heart of the capital, where Assad’s troops are deployed in force.

Until now the armed rebels were active in Damascus’ suburbs and satellite towns but rarely ventured into the regime-controlled center of the city.

Omar al-Khani, a resident of Damascus was quoted in the Guardian as saying large explosions and machine gun fire could be heard as rebels invaded the city from higher grounds in the morning.

France 24 reported the attacks might have been carried out by Syrian army defectors.

A resident of Mazzeh district said automatic rifles and machine guns were used in the first two-hour clash, that ended at about 4 a.m. local time Monday.

An activist in the capital said the clash occurred near the Political Security Directorate building.

The activist and resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisal, had no immediate word about casualties.

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The fighting came less than 24 hours after bombings in Aleppo, and less than 48 hours after dozens were killed in two Damascus explosions.

No one has claimed responsibility for any of the weekend attacks.

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The string of large-scale bombings near government security buildings in Damascus and Aleppo that have added a mysterious element to the anti-government revolt. After other similar attacks, US officials suggested al-Qaida militants may be joining the fray.

A previously unknown Islamist group calling itself Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant claimed responsibility for previous attacks in a video posted online, saying it carried them out “to avenge the people of Homs.”

Homs is an opposition stronghold in central Syria that has been hard hit in the government crackdown.

Al-Qaida’s involvement could further fuel the sectarian tensions that the uprising has already stoked. Al-Qaida’s supporters are largely Sunni Muslim extremists. Syria’s military and political leadership is stacked heavily with members of the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which Assad and the ruling elite belong. The Alawite leaders of Syria are closely allied with Shiite Iran.

Syrians are marking the one-year anniversary of the country’s bloody uprising this month.