Syrian regime television said on Friday warplanes had bombed targets near the insurgent-held town of Zabadani near the frontier with Lebanon, destroying an ammunition store and a factory for making rockets, Reuters said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy fighting between pro-government forces and insurgents who launched an attack on an army checkpoint in the Zabadani area.
A rebel fighter said the army intensified aerial raids and attempts to infiltrate behind their lines in the strategic town situated northwest of Damascus.
"It's a tough siege and the regime are advancing but the fighters are repelling them. We planted explosives in the streets and are preparing ourselves for intense street battles" Abu Abdo, a fighter from the hardline Islamist faction Ahrar al-Sham group, told Reuters.
Hezbollah has in recent days been sending reinforcements to areas near Zabadani, sources briefed on the matter said, in apparent preparation for an attack on the rebels there.
More than 230,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government demonstrations that were met with a regime crackdown.
Zaman Al Wasl
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