Damascus Fighting Rages Following Attack on Assad Officials
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File photo. AFP/Getty Images(DAMASCUS, Syria) — On Thursday, opposition fighters clashed with regime forces in the Syrian capital of Damascus for the fifth straight day.
Activists reported the continued use of tanks and helicopters in neighborhoods in and around the capital, including one close to the presidential palace.
The continued fighting followed a stunning bomb attack on Wednesday on President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle that left at least three top aides dead.
The violence has been the worst seen in Damascus since the uprising began 17 months ago.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Thursday that residents were fleeing the upscale neighborhood of Mezzeh near the presidential palace amid clashes, and helicopters were hovering over numerous parts of the city.
“It’s very dangerous,” Fares Mohamad, a spokesman for the opposition’s Local Coordination Committees, told ABC News. “They’re shelling with tanks, helicopters [and] a lot of heavy weapons.”
Assad has not been seen or heard from since an explosion went off in the national security building on Wednesday, killing at least three top officials. State media reported the deaths of Defense Minister Dawood Rajiah, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani.
The death of Shawkat, Assad’s brother-in-law and one of his closest confidantes, was a particularly painful blow for the regime. It highlighted the opposition’s ability to infiltrate Assad’s inner circle and perhaps get to the president himself.
The opposition Syrian National Council denied initial reports the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. SNC member Ausama Monajed told ABC News the explosives were planted and remotely detonated, a plan that had been in works for two months. But 24 hours after the brazen attack, details were still unclear.
In the wake of the bombing, opponents of Assad on Wednesday piled on, saying the bomb attack was proof of Assad losing control.
“It is precisely because of the ongoing campaign by President Assad against his own people that we are seeing a situation that is getting worse and worse,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. “That is why it is so important for the international community to come together around a plan that produces the transition — the political transition — that is essential if Syria is to have a brighter future.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio