War comes to Damascus

Turning point as war comes to Damascus
17 July, 2012 – The Daily Star

DAMASCUS/MOSCOW: Syria’s military deployed armored vehicles near central Damascus Monday as troops battled rebels around the capital in what activists said could be a turning point in the 16-month uprising.

Russia, meanwhile, slammed as “blackmail” Western pressure to push for a U.N. Security Council resolution against Syria’s regime and said it would be “unrealistic” for its ally President Bashar Assad to quit.

“Al-Midan and Tadamon are out of the army’s control,” said Ahmad al-Khatib, spokesman for the Free Syrian Army’s military council in Damascus.

“The army has no presence inside either of these neighborhoods any more, though they are shelling from the outside, and clashes on the edges of the neighborhoods continue.”

As battles raged around Damascus for a second straight day, troops deployed armored vehicles near the historic neighborhood of Al-Midan.

“When there is fighting in the capital for several hours, even days, and troops are unable to control the situation, that proves the regime’s weakness,” said Rami Abdul-Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

An activist on the ground, identifying himself as Abu Musab, said the army was trying to overrun Al-Midan and called the fighting a “turning point” in the revolt against Assad’s regime.

Activists said that the army and FSA rebels had also been locked in fierce clashes since Sunday in the southern Damascus neighborhood of Tadamon, Kfar Sousa in the west and Jobar in the east.

They said the clashes were the heaviest in the capital since the March 2011 start of the uprising.

The authorities vowed Monday they would not surrender the capital. “You will never get Damascus,” read the headline in Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the regime.

“Security forces, backed by the army, have for the past 48 hours been attacking the terrorist groups as they try to pull back to districts on the outskirts,” the paper said.

A resident of nearby Jaramana said the area was like a “war zone.”

Activists said residents were fleeing Tadamon, with many seeking shelter in the nearby Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, as the opposition Syrian National Council accused the regime of transforming Damascus into “battlefields.”

Rebel-held districts of the central city of Homs, which has been under siege for months, were bombarded Monday, according to the Observatory. It said a total of at least 67 people were killed in violence across the country – 32 civilians, 21 soldiers and 14 rebel fighters. The latest violence comes as diplomatic pressure builds up ahead of a key Security Council vote Friday to decide whether the 300-strong U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria would be renewed.

The unarmed observers are tasked with overseeing implementation of a six-point peace plan brokered by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan which has been flouted daily since mid-April when it was to have gone into effect.

Speaking ahead of talks with Annan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of trying to “blackmail” Moscow to get its backing for possible sanctions against Syria.

“To our great regret, we are witnessing elements of blackmail,” said Lavrov, adding that it was “unrealistic” for Moscow to back calls for Assad to step down as the population supports him.
…more