Battles break out in Damascus

From Al Jazeera:

Heavy fighting has broken out between opposition fighters and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in a main district of the Syrian capital Damascus that is home to several security installations, witnesses said.

The sound of heavy machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades echoed throughout the night from the western neighbourhood of al-Mezzeh, one of the most heavily guarded areas of the capital, residents told the Reuters news agency by telephone on Monday.

There was no immediate word on casualties but residents said by telephone the fighting was intense.

There is fighting near Hamada supermarket and the sound of explosions there and elsewhere in the neighbourhood. Security police have blocked several side streets and the street lighting has been cut off,” a housewife who lives in the area said.

Lena, a member of the Revolutionary Leadership Council in Damascus, an opposition activist network, told Al Jazeera “it all started around midnight. People here in Mezzeh started hearing gunfire”.

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