Syrian opposition fighters kill 30 government soldiers

The opposition Free Syrian Army claimed Saturday killing 30 government soldiers while repelling a government forces assault several suburbs of Damascus and its countryside. "The government forces are carrying out a broad offensive using all heavy weaponry on southern and western suburbs of the capital Damascus and its countryside," reads a press statement by the FSA. It added that over 30 tanks are participating in the attack on Damascus suburbs which had been under watertight siege from the government forces over the past months. "In addition, the government forces are backed by armed units and fighters from Lebanese Hezbollah party and the Iraqi Abulfadal Al-Abbas Brigade," it added. It claimed that its fighters killed 30 of the attacking forces and destroyed two vehicles during clashes in Basateen Hojerat Al-Balad and Al-Bouwiyda suburbs. The FSA pointed out that the government forces bombarded Subiyna neighborhood in Damascus with jetfighters and artillery as well as surface-to-surface rockets. In Damascus countryside suburb of Darayya, residents took to the streets to protest the sporadic shelling of the civilian areas by the government artillery as well as the severe humanitarian situation in their blockaded suburb due to the dearth of food and medicine. The FSA cautioned against the reoccurrence of carnages if the international community failed to intervene to protect civilians in the attacked suburbs. In a separate statement, the Syrian Revolution General Commission unveiled that 19 people were killed in the continuous bombardment of the cities of Damascus, Deraa, and Idlib, Deir Al-Zour and Homs. Meanwhile, the state news agency (SANA) reported that 11 people were injured and a number of houses and shops were damaged by the indiscriminate rockets attacks on Damascus suburbs.