[h=3]By Jacob Resneck and Jabeen Bhatti, Special for USA TODAY[/h]Updated
HASANKEYF, Turkey – Fighting intensified in Damascus on Thursday as the Syrian military sent attack helicopters and tanks against rebel forces after a bombing that killed three figures in the president's inner circle.
AP
An image made from video purports to show Free Syrian Army soldiers during clashes with Syrian government forces at Tadamon Police Station in Damascus, Syria.
"There have been more attacks using helicopters, rockets and shelling some neighborhoods of Damascus," said Sami Ibrahim, an activist with the Syrian Network for Human Rights, speaking from Damascus. Ibrahim said he had received reports that 129 people had died in the day's attacks.
Thousands of Syrians crossed into Lebanon to escape the fighting in the capital 25 miles from the border. President Bashar Assad swore in his new defense minister, Fahd Jassem al-Freij, whose predecessor, Dawoud Rajha, was killed in the bomb attack Wednesday along with two other top leaders.
"I think the opposition rebels will push their advantage as fast and as intensely as they can," said Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. "I find it very difficult to see how the regime could recover from this."
Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, who leads 300 United Nations observers in Syria, said a quick end to the fighting looks unlikely. "It pains me to say it, but we are not on the track for peace in Syria."
On Thursday, China and Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have required the Assad regime to withdraw troops from populated areas within 10 days. If it didn't, the regime would have faced non-military sanctions.
Yasmin al-Shami, 28, a Damascus resident, said the U.N. efforts were useless and only military force could prevent a slaughter. According to U.N. figures, at least 10,000 civilians have been killed in the uprising against Assad.
"To be honest, the Syrian street is not hoping for a lot from the U.N.," al-Shami said. "If we have a safe area that the people can go to without the regime being there, any kind of action to stop the regime from using their helicopters and warplanes, that would help a lot."
Contributing: Bhatti reported from Soulac-sur-Mer, France
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HASANKEYF, Turkey – Fighting intensified in Damascus on Thursday as the Syrian military sent attack helicopters and tanks against rebel forces after a bombing that killed three figures in the president's inner circle.
AP
An image made from video purports to show Free Syrian Army soldiers during clashes with Syrian government forces at Tadamon Police Station in Damascus, Syria.
"There have been more attacks using helicopters, rockets and shelling some neighborhoods of Damascus," said Sami Ibrahim, an activist with the Syrian Network for Human Rights, speaking from Damascus. Ibrahim said he had received reports that 129 people had died in the day's attacks.
Thousands of Syrians crossed into Lebanon to escape the fighting in the capital 25 miles from the border. President Bashar Assad swore in his new defense minister, Fahd Jassem al-Freij, whose predecessor, Dawoud Rajha, was killed in the bomb attack Wednesday along with two other top leaders.
- [h=3]PHOTOS: 'Meltdown' in Syria?[/h]
"I think the opposition rebels will push their advantage as fast and as intensely as they can," said Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. "I find it very difficult to see how the regime could recover from this."
Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, who leads 300 United Nations observers in Syria, said a quick end to the fighting looks unlikely. "It pains me to say it, but we are not on the track for peace in Syria."
On Thursday, China and Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have required the Assad regime to withdraw troops from populated areas within 10 days. If it didn't, the regime would have faced non-military sanctions.
Yasmin al-Shami, 28, a Damascus resident, said the U.N. efforts were useless and only military force could prevent a slaughter. According to U.N. figures, at least 10,000 civilians have been killed in the uprising against Assad.
"To be honest, the Syrian street is not hoping for a lot from the U.N.," al-Shami said. "If we have a safe area that the people can go to without the regime being there, any kind of action to stop the regime from using their helicopters and warplanes, that would help a lot."
Contributing: Bhatti reported from Soulac-sur-Mer, France
For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to [email protected]. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines.