Aleppo pounded as Jolie visits Syria refugees

SYRIA: Syrian guns pounded rebel positions in Aleppo and heavy fighting rocked the Old City amid a flurry of diplomatic activity Tuesday, as world powers pressed on with the formidable task of seeking an end to the bloodshed.

After an eerily quiet morning, a resident reported renewed bombardments of the Kalasseh and Bustan al-Qasr districts in the south, Suleiman al-Halabi in the centre and Bustan al-Basha in the north.

“There are clashes now in the Old City,” a mainly Christian area of the commercial hub, the resident told AFP.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that five people, including a child were killed, in shelling of the rebel stronghold of Sakhur, and 12 people killed altogether in Aleppo province.

Drinking water supplies -- cut off in many areas of the city after a main pipe was blown open during fighting and air raids on Saturday -- were restored after repairs, the resident said.

But shortages persisted in the northeast of the city, including in Bustan al-Basha.

In the capital, meanwhile, an explosion rocked the upscale western district of Mazzeh overnight, and pro-regime gunmen fought rebels in Barzeh, another wealthy neighbourhood, the Observatory said. Fierce clashes broke out south of the capital in Tadamun and the nearby Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp, the watchdog said, adding that three civilians were killed in shelling of the area of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad nearby.

Just south of Damascus, at least one man was killed by sniper fire as clashes raged in the towns of Babila and Yalda, where the army launched a large-scale operation, the Observatory said. At least nine people, including a woman and child, were killed in shelling of houses in the town of Kfar Zeita in the central province of Hama, according to the Observatory.

In Deir Ezzor province in the east, warplanes bombarded the town of Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border, killing four people, including three women. They also hit several districts of Deir Ezzor city, where clashes broke out and rebels deployed anti-aircraft guns.

The watchdog gave a toll of at least 85 people killed nationwide on Tuesday, most of them civilians, after a day in which nearly 140 lives were claimed. AFP