Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Photo: Wiki Commons.

NY Times – Antigovernment activists on Tuesday reported a third day of street battles in the Syrian capital of Damascus as rebels fought Syrian Army forces in several restive neighborhoods near the edge of the old city.

Activists in the northern Damascus suburb of Qaboun said the Syrian forces were backed by helicopter gunships, an apparent hardening of the government’s response to urban fighting that has spread toward central Damascus and the seat of President Bashar al-Assad’s power.

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