BICOM

At least 80 people were killed in heavy clashes on Monday between Free Syrian Army rebels and forces loyal to Bashar Assad. Fighting broke out in an upscale neighbourhood of the capital Damascus that is home to embassies and senior officials, activists said.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists throughout Syria, described the clashes “as the most violent of its kind and closest to security centres in Damascus since the revolution began.”

A resident of the Mazzeh district, a Damascus suburb, said automatic rifles and machinegun fire could be heard for two hours in a clash that ended at about 04:00 am local time. The resident added that the clash was close to the Swiss embassy and the home of Maj. Gen. Assef Shawkat, the deputy chief of staff for security affairs who is married to President Bashar Assad’s sister, Bushra.

Armed rebels are active in Damascus’ suburbs and satellite towns, but rarely venture into the capital where Assad’s troops are deployed in force. Damascus has been largely free of the daily shootings and deaths reported across the country since the uprising against Assad began in March last year. But the capital has witnessed several major bomb attacks targeting security facilities recently. This weekend, a series of car bombs exploded in Damascus and Aleppo. Twenty-seven are reported to have been killed in Damascus and three people in Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city and a stronghold of the regime, that until recently had also been relatively calm during the uprising.

The UN estimates that more that 8,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad began last March.