http://zeenews.india.com/world/syri...ting-near-damascus-despite-truce_1965187.html
Beirut: At least nine people, among them seven government soldiers, were killed in fighting near the Syrian capital
Damascus overnight, despite a fragile nationwide truce, a monitor said on Saturday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting was continuing on Saturday in Wadi Barada, a rebel-held district northwest of Damascus that is home to the capital`s main water source.
The Britain-based monitor said the overnight fighting had killed at least seven Syrian soldiers and wounded around 20 others, some of whom were in serious condition.
Two civilians were also killed in the violence, the group said.
Water supplies from Wadi Barada have been cut since December 22.
The regime and the rebels have traded accusations of responsibility, with the government saying the rebels deliberately targeted water infrastructure and the opposition saying army strikes hit pumping facilities.
Fighting has continued in the area despite the start on December 30 of a nationwide truce brokered by regime ally Russia and opposition backer Turkey.
The ceasefire, accepted by both the government and key rebel groups, has brought quiet to large parts of Syria, but the violence has continued in Wadi Barada.
There have been discussions about the possibility of an agreement to end the fighting, with experts able to enter the area to fix the damaged water infrastructure.
But so far no deal has been reached, and the UN warned earlier this week that 5.5 million people were now affected by water shortages in the capital and its suburbs.
More than 310,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. Over half the country`s population has been displaced.
First Published: Saturday, January 7, 2017 - 13:46
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Beirut: A large explosion in the busy centre of a rebel-held town near Syria's border with Turkey killed around 20 people and wounded dozens on Saturday, a monitor, local resident, and opposition groups said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 19 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the blast in front of a courthouse in the northern Syrian town of Azaz.
Dozens more had severe injuries, said the Observatory, which monitors the violence in the country.
Azaz is a major stronghold of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), an alliance of moderate rebel groups whose fighters have, with Turkish military support, pushed Islamic State militants out of the border area.
The explosion occurred near a government building in the town and was heard across the border in the Turkish town of Kilis, Turkey`s privately-owned Dogan news agency.
It said preparations were being made to receive casualties in Kilis hospital.
In unsourced comments, it said a car bomb planted by Islamic State was responsible.
In a round-up of its military operations over the last 24 hours in support of rebels in northern Syria, the Turkish military said on Saturday that 21 Islamic State militants had been killed in clashes.
Turkish warplanes destroyed buildings and vehicles in air strikes on 12 Islamic State targets, it said.
First Published: Saturday, January 7, 2017 - 18:52
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At least six of the victims were soldiers, the SOHR director said.
The blast caused considerable damage to the surrounding infrastructure.
Azaz is situated in the swathe of northern Syria recently captured from the Islamic State terror group by Turkish-backed legions of the Free Syrian Army rebel group.
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Beirut: A massive tanker truck bomb ripped through a market by a courthouse in the rebel-held Syrian town of
Azaz today, killing 48 people and wounding dozens near the Turkish border.
