At least 10 people have been killed according to a monitoring network after Syrian government forces shelled the southeastern suburbs of Damascus, an area that has come under intensive assault by regime jets and artillery in recent days.
A main roundabout in the town of Zabdean was shelled yesterday, in which at least 10 people, including five children, were killed and nearby homes destroyed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
In another suburb of the Syrian capital - Eastern Ghouta - clashes have intensified between government forces and opposition fighters, leaving several people injured.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the Syrian Observatory’s reports.
Eastern Ghouta has been shelled intensively for the past 10 days, with reports of at least 36 surface-to-surface missiles and dozens of other mortars being used.
Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Jamjoom, reporting from Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon, said there has been an uptick in violence over the past several weeks, especially in Idlib province.
“The city of Idlib became the second provincial capital to fall to the rebels. This was a group coalition which was led by al-Nusra Front. The city fell in the last part of March.
“In the intervening time, there has really been an upswing in the ongoing aerial bombardment by Syrian forces. It is getting bloodier and bloodier by the hour,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Yarmouk, south of Damascus, clashes have escalated between government forces and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, while government forces shelled the neighbourhoods of the area.
