Amman, Jordan: Syria’s main Western-backed opposition said on Sunday that 200 civilians are trapped in a mosque in a suburb of the Syrian capital as fighting rages outside between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar Al Assad.
Meanwhile, Syrian activists said mortar shells landed in three separate Damascus districts, killing one person and wounding several others. The attacks coincided with Syrian army strikes on the Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees on the edge of the city, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Syrian Coalition called on the United Nations in a statement to send “a strong warning” to Al Assad that he “must immediately release” the civilians trapped in the mosque in the Damascus suburb of Qaboun.
It did not say if the 200 had sought refuge in the mosque or were already there praying when fighting began.
It warned that thousands of civilians in Qaboun could be “massacred” by Al Assad’s army, as armoured vehicles and elite forces move into the neighbourhood.
The Observatory said fighting in Qaboun that began after midnight had caused casualties.
