
BEIRUT — Airstrikes in the Syrian capital, Damascus, killed at least seven people Monday as activists reported a third straight day of escalations by progovernment forces against opposition-held areas inside and around the capital.
Jets believed to belong to the Russian or Syrian air forces pounded the Barzeh and Qaboun neighborhoods in northeast Damascus, leveling several buildings, and also wounded at least 12 people, the activist-run Barzeh Media Center and Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
The side-by-side Barzeh, Qaboun, and Tishreen neighborhoods form one of the last two footholds of the Syrian opposition inside the Damascus city limits.
The neighborhoods connect to a vast, opposition-held district in the suburbs of the capital through a network of smuggling tunnels, according to Syria researcher Aron Lund, in a report for the US-based Century Foundation policy institute.
Progovernment forces have failed to collapse rebel defenses inside the Eastern Ghouta district, despite besieging them there since 2013.
The Syrian Civil Defense first responders, also known as the White Helmets, released a video showing its volunteers trying to rescue a girl from under the rubble of a collapsed building after an airstrike on the Tishreen neighborhood.
Also Monday, the Russian military reported the deaths of four of its servicemen when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in the center of the country last Thursday. The loss raised the total Russian combat casualties so far in Syria’s war to 27.
The four died when they were traveling as part of a Syrian military convoy to the city of Homs from the Tiyas air base, which is close to the ancient town of Palmyra held by the Islamic State. Russian officials said the bomb was detonated by remote control. Two other servicemen were wounded.
Moscow launched its military operations in support of President Bashar Assad’s forces in September 2015. The Russian military has touted its air power as the backbone of its intervention, but its technicians, military advisers, and police forces have helped to clear and secure territory as well.
Associated Press