"Unprecedented violent fighting'', according to a Syrian NGO, took place all day Sunday in Damascus between soldiers and rebels. According to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR), the clashes across the country on Sunday left 105 dead including 48 civilians, 16 rebels and 41 soldiers. "The regular army launches mortar shells against several neighborhoods" in Damascus, said the director of the SOHR Rami Abdel Rahman, adding that these were the most intense clashes in Damascus.
The fighting took place, particularly in the south of the capital, also plagued by military bombardment, according to SOHR, while activists spoke of "tanks entering the neighborhood of al-Tadamone amid clashes" .
Meanwhile, the UN observers again visited Sunday in Treimsa, central Syria, where, according to SOHR, said shelling and fighting left more than 150 people dead on Thursday, including dozens of rebels. The opposition and part of the international community had called it a "massacre." The UN mission said in a statement Sunday night that "more than 50 houses were burned and / or destroyed" in Treimsa, stating the presence of "pools of blood and body parts."
According to 27 people interviewed by the observers, the attack began at 5:00 Thursday with bombing operations in. According to these witnesses, the army conducted house to house searches and conducted identity checks of men, many of whom were later killed or taken out of the village.
The SOHR had said some people were "summarily executed" or killed while attempting to flee, and 30 corpses were burned.
Residents said Sunday that houses, hit by tanks, were looted by militias of the regime and then burned.
Meanwhile, hoping to restore momentum to his diplomatic peace plan, which has never taken effect on the ground, Kofi Annan is expected Monday in Moscow, where he will meet Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Kremlin. Russia firmly resists any outside intervention in Syria and blocked so far any draft resolution condemning the crackdown.
A visit by Ban Ki-moon is scheduled next week in China, another supporter of Damascus.
On his part, Abdel Basset Sayda, head of the Syrian National Council (SNC), the main opposition coalition, said U.S. President Barack Obama should not wait for his eventual re-election in November to act in Syria.
