Syria army shells central Aleppo district

9 Sep 2012, 9:17 pm   -   Source: AAP
Fighting for control of a key army base in Aleppo raged on Saturday (AAP).

Fighting for control of a key army base in Aleppo raged on Saturday (AAP).

Syria's second city of Aleppo has again been subjected to heavy bombardment while government troops also shelled southeast parts of Damascus.

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Syrian troops bombarded a central neighbourhood of Aleppo on Sunday after a day of fierce clashes with rebels who tried to take the regime-controlled district, a watchdog said.

"The bombardment of Bustan al-Basha has stopped but could start up again any time," a resident told AFP.

The shelling destroyed houses in the northern city's Midan district, a regime bastion that rebels have been trying to seize from their stronghold in Bustan al-Basha since Saturday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

A main water pipe in Bustan al-Basha was destroyed on Saturday, either by air strikes or the fighting, and residents reported water shortages in the northern city.

The water department said the pipeline was still broken on Sunday, but repairs were underway.

Aleppo province governor Mohammed Akkad blamed "terrorists" for breaking the Midan water main as well as two other pipelines in Suleiman al-Halabi district.

Meanwhile, the observatory reported an unknown number of casualties in the Hanano district of Aleppo after heavy shelling hit a building.

On Saturday, troops backed by tanks and helicopters had repelled a rebel attack on the Hanano military base after a 20-hour battle.

Al-Watan newspaper declared on Sunday that "the Hanano barracks are in the hands of the army".

The government forces had pushed rebels out of the fortress-like compound on Saturday, parts of which rebels claimed to have captured the day before, military officials and witnesses said.

In Damascus, troops bombarded Tadamun, in the southeast, and the nearby district of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad as clashes broke out at the Yarmuk Palestinian camp, the observatory said.

In the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, the army shelled the neighbourhood of Jubaila, and shelling attacks were also reported in the northwestern province of Idlib and in the southern province of Daraa, where two men were killed by sniper fire, the observatory said.

The Homs city suburb of Khaldiyeh saw clashes as well as shelling, while dozens of casualties were reported as a bus carrying civilians and soldiers was bombed on a main road in the central province.

At least 12 people, including nine civilians, were killed nationwide on Sunday, the observatory said.

The violence followed a bloody day in which 135 people - 63 civilians, 33 rebels and 39 soldiers - were killed nationwide, the Britain-based observatory reported.

In Aleppo, 17 bodies were discovered in a trench, while at least 11 people were killed in shelling in Tadamun and Yarmuk Palestinian camp in Damascus.

Syria Violence

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