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Summary Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi prepared to visit Damascus in a new bid to end the bloodshed.
Syrian rebels attacked a strategic army base in Aleppo on Friday, as bomb attacks in Damascus and fighting elsewhere claimed more than 100 lives and as peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi prepared to visit Damascus in a new bid to end the bloodshed.The rebels claimed to have captured part of a fortress-like army position in the the Hanano district of the northern city after fierce fighting, a claim denied by the army.At least 18 soldiers and four rebels were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Rebel commander Abu Omar told AFP the goal of the offensive was to liberate Hanano, cut strategic supply lines and put a stop to shelling that has caused high civilian casualties in Aleppo, Syrias commercial hub.FSA media coordinator Abdullah Yasser said Hanano is one of the main places from which they are shooting, so taking it over could be a turning point for us.In Damascus, a motorcycle bomb struck as worshippers left a mosque after weekly prayers in the Rokn Eddin neighbourhood, state television said.The terrorist attack killed five members of the security forces and injured several others, it said.In a second attack, a car bomb caused damage near the courthouses in central Damascus, the television said, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said another blast struck the Salhiyeh district.Despite the violence sweeping the country, anti-regime protests were held in several towns and villages, the Britain-based Observatory said.On the southeast outskirts of Damascus, hundreds of troops backed by armour stormed the town of Babila, where FSA elements were entrenched, it added.A raid by security forces on Al-Qazzaz in southeastern Damascus, in which troops rounded up dozens of suspected militants, sparked clashes with rebels, the Observatory said.Elsewhere, two children were killed when Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border was shelled, and two rebels were killed by mortar fire in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, the Observatory said.In the northwestern province of Idlib, scores of homes were destroyed by shelling, and a child was killed in an air strike on rebel-held Rastan in the central Homs province, and three civilians died in Talbisseh town, it said.At least 100 people, mostly civilians, were killed nationwide, according to the Observatory.In another grisly find in the almost 18-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assads regime, residents recovered 45 bodies in two towns on the outskirts of Damascus, the group said.It said at least 23 bodies, including those of women and children, were found in the eastern suburb of Zamalka on Thursday, while another 22 were discovered in Qatana southeast of the capital.Opposition activists blamed pro-government forces for the Zamalka killings, accusing the regime of a new massacre.On Friday, the bodies of 16 men were found in Harasta, also in Damascus province, some bearing signs of torture, the Observatory said.The conflict in Syria has claimed a total of more than 26,000 lives since it erupted in mid-March 2011, according to the Observatory, with civilians accounting for most of those killed.
