60 killed in Damascus ahead of Iranian FM\\\'s visit

At least 60 people were killed and dozens injured on Wednesday in Syrian government soldiers and rebel attacks in different locations in and around Damascus, hours before a visit to the Syrian capital by Iranian foreign minister. Wednesday’s army artillery shelling and air strikes targeting Douma, 10-km from central Damascus, killed at least 37 people, including women and children, and injured more than 120, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. Activists also reported that 13 people were killed in air strikes in neighbouring Saqba. The Syrian Observatory reported that at least 12 people were killed in rocket attacks by rebels targeting several neighbourhoods in Damascus, including Abu Romaneh and Bab Touma in the centre. Syrian state TV reported that five civilians were killed and 55 others injured in rebel attacks, saying, ‘Terrorists launched mortar attacks targeting a number of residential districts in Damascus’. Some activists and witnesses said women and, even, kids were seen carrying guns and helping the Shia fighters in Idlib province. The deaths came as Syria’s warring parties declared a 48-hour ceasefire in a frontline area after a month of unprecedented mediation from Turkey and Iran, backers of rival sides in Syria. The ceasefire halted fighting between rebels on the one hand, and the army and its Lebanese Hezbollah allies on the other, in the rebel-held town of Zabadani and in a pair of Shia Muslim villages in Idlib, according to Al Jazeera.
- mbz