Heavy fighting in Damascus after brief lull
- 11 years ago
The brief lull in the battle over Damascus was all too short.
NATS SHELLING
Amateur video posted to a social media website purportedly shows heavy fighting erupted Tuesday and Wednesday in several neighborhoods in the Syrian capitol.
Reuters cannot independently verify the content of the video.
But opposition activists say the images largely show the shelling of Jobar, a working class Sunni neighborhood adjacent to the city's main square.
NATS CRIES
The same video claims to also show shelling and heavy gunfire in the eastern Damascus suburb of Erwin.
Rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's forces say this latest fighting is their offensive to break a stalemate in the city of two million.
NATS STATE MEDIA MUSIC
On Wednesday, Syrian State media tried to downplay reports of fighting.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN TV NEWSREADER SAYING:
"A media source announced that the news circulated by some TV channels are groundless and lack any credibility. The source added that this fabricated media campaign seeks to raise the low morale of the terrorists after being severely hit by the Syrian Arab army."
NATS ALLAH AKBAR AT SCENE OF RUBBLE
But images can be louder than words -- in a civil war that the UN says has already claimed 60,000 lives.
NATS SHELLING
Amateur video posted to a social media website purportedly shows heavy fighting erupted Tuesday and Wednesday in several neighborhoods in the Syrian capitol.
Reuters cannot independently verify the content of the video.
But opposition activists say the images largely show the shelling of Jobar, a working class Sunni neighborhood adjacent to the city's main square.
NATS CRIES
The same video claims to also show shelling and heavy gunfire in the eastern Damascus suburb of Erwin.
Rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's forces say this latest fighting is their offensive to break a stalemate in the city of two million.
NATS STATE MEDIA MUSIC
On Wednesday, Syrian State media tried to downplay reports of fighting.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN TV NEWSREADER SAYING:
"A media source announced that the news circulated by some TV channels are groundless and lack any credibility. The source added that this fabricated media campaign seeks to raise the low morale of the terrorists after being severely hit by the Syrian Arab army."
NATS ALLAH AKBAR AT SCENE OF RUBBLE
But images can be louder than words -- in a civil war that the UN says has already claimed 60,000 lives.