Assad forces launch fiercest assault on Jobar

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian regime armed forces on Thursday have continued aerial bombardment ground shelling on rebel-held Jobar neighborhood and neighboring outskirts, killing 14 people, activists and monitoring group said.

Regime air raids struck targets east of Damascus and further north killing 14 people including six children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Ten people were killed, including a woman and two children, in Jisrin, to the east of Damascus. And four children died in attacks on Hish and Babolin, on the highway that links the capital to Aleppo in the north, the Britain-based Observatory said, according to AFP.

The Observatory also said the army had launched 4 ground- to- ground missiles on Jobar by missile batteries located in Damascus city center as the violent clashes continue against the al Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al Nusra along with various Syrian rebel brigades.

The last few weeks marked the fiercest assault on Jobar since the start of the three-year war, with tens of air strikes and mortar bombs.

Residents in central Damascus told Zaman al-Wasl that shelling was the heaviest in recent weeks. The windows have been shattered and entire buildings shake. “warplanes buzz is unstoppable,” they said.

Reuters said regime is trying to retake Jobar after the capture of several rebel-held areas around the center of the capital, including the town of Mleiha just outside Damascus on August 14.

(Editing by Anwar Diab)