Clashes continue in Syria
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E-mail Xinhua, July 17, 2012
The clashes between the Syrian troops and armed groups have continued overnight and after daybreak Tuesday in a number of rebellious Damascus' southern neighborhoods, which have emerged as strongholds for armed insurgency.
Syrian troops have launched a wide-scale operation Sunday in Midan, Tadamun, Zamalka, Harasta, Jobar, Qaboun and nearby allies. The operation continued as a result of the armed response from the other armed parties.
Media reports said the army has given a deadline for the armed rebels to surrender themselves and lay down their weapons, however, and as the night fell down the sounds of shootout and in some cases vague explosions have intensified dramatically leaving residents to stay up most of the night counting the shootings.
The military operations came in tandem with reports by some opposition websites talking about the hour Zero, at which the armed rebels are supposed to launch several assaults simultaneously in sensitive areas across the capital in unison with media coverage to facilitate the armed groups operation.
The urban battles have sent many people to flee their homes and seek refuge in other areas. Scores of gunmen have reportedly got killed in the clashes, media reports said.
The capital clashes mark a new escalation in the 16-months unrest and cast dim shadow over the prospect of a foreseeable solution in the near future.
Armed clashes have also been reported in a number of other provinces such as Homs, Daraa and Idlib.
The opposition fighters, comprised of defectors, Islamists and others, have applied the Guerrilla-type clashes against the regular Syrian forces.
Most of the rebels' fights are being launched from populated areas thus jeopardizing the lives of civilians, experts said, adding that entrenching in residential areas give the armed elements a sort of a shield against the government troops' response.
