CAIRO — Syrian government forces shelled several districts of Damascus Thursday during a second day of fierce fighting with rebels in and around the capital.
Amateur video showed smoke rising from the southern districts of Damascus as shells crashed into areas that rebel forces have tried to seize from the government.
Witnesses say elite government units located along northern heights of the capital used field artillery to slow the rebel advance.
Syrian state television reported that a "government offensive" had pushed rebels out of the south-eastern Damascus district of Joubar. The report also said that rebel forces shelled a pro-government northern district of the city, killing several people.
Neither government nor rebel accounts can be independently verified as Syria does not permit journalists to report freely.
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