Syria: At Least 187 Dead Amid Damascus And Aleppo Clashes

Fighting raged Saturday in Aleppo where the rebels claimed to have taken positions from the regime army in the emblematic neighborhood of Salaheddin. Meanwhile, violent clashes between soldiers and rebels were reported in the Damascus district of Tadamoun and gunfire and explosions were heard in other sectors of the Syrian capital, said an NGO and opposition activists.

“The Free Syrian Army (FSA) has managed to regain some strategic positions” in the main rebel stronghold of Salahuddin, said Abdel Qader Saleh, a commander of the FSA. “The fights are violent and continue 24 hours a day. Several areas of Aleppo are subjected to shelling,” said the head of operations at the “Tawhid” battalion in the region of Aleppo.

The rebels said they had made a “tactic” withdrawal from Salaheddin, while the authorities had announced the full control on the neighborhood.

In Damascus, the fighting took place at Tadamoun (south), whose the army announced its full control on August 4, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) and the Local Coordination Committees (LCC) , which includes its data from a network of activists on the ground.

Gunfire and explosions were also heard in the district of Al-Qaboun, said the SOHR Activists also mentioned automatic gunfire in the neighborhood of Joubeir (of Damascus) where rockets landed.

The Syrian army announced in early August it regained control over the capital after heavy fighting with the FSA.

In the province of Damascus, the army shelled Deir al-Assafir where three people were killed, as well as the towns of Harasta and Al-Tal where civilians began to flee, according to SOHR.

Saturday violence came after another bloody day in Syria during which at least 187 people were killed (111 civilians, 52 soldiers, 24 rebels).