Syrian
rebels have ambushed forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad near the rebel-held Yabrud,
leaving 75 dead, pro-opposition activists said on Tuesday.
Qalamoun Media Center said more than 350
soldiers, mostly from Republican Guards, have been killed since the major offensive has targeted the strategic town
near the Lebanese border three weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Assad’s helicopters dropped explosives-packed barrels near Yabrud area, AFP said.
The strikes come a day after at least 15
rebels were killed fighting in the Yabrud area, north of Damascus, said the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group relying on contacts
inside the war-torn country.
The group supported reports from activists
on the ground, who said the village of Sahel is still a contested area, a day
after the army claimed it had taken it over completely.
The mixed Muslim and Christian town of
Yabrud lies on the strategic highway linking Damascus to Homs, Syria's third
city, and is close to the Lebanese border and crucial rebel supply lines.
The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah,
which is fighting alongside Syrian troops in the area, accuses rebels of using
Yabrud as a gateway to send car bombs to target its strongholds in eastern
Lebanon and southern Beirut.
Last year Hezbollah acknowledged sending
fighters into Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad's regime, exacerbating
divisions in Lebanon between supporters and opponents of Damascus.
Rights groups have condemned the use of
barrel bombs, saying they fail to discriminate between fighters and civilians.
The regime's use of barrel bombs in northern Syria has killed hundreds of
people in recent months, mostly civilians.
The fresh strikes come a day after an ammunitions
factory held by Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front in the northern province of
Idlib exploded, killing three women who lived nearby, said the Observatory.
More than 140,000 people have been killed
in Syria's war, and millions more forced to flee their homes. With AFP
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