DAMASCUS:Syrian rebels clashed with troops in Damascus yesterday amid mounting violence in the capital, as the Red Cross said it was struggling to cope with the country’s worsening humanitarian crisis. Fresh fighting broke out overnight in Damascus in the disputed southern neighbourhood of Qadam and in Mazzeh in the west, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground.
It said 59 civilians, rebels and soldiers were killed in and around Damascus alone on Wednesday, with 133 dead overall across the country. Rebel forces have in recent days stepped up their attacks on President Bashar Al Assad’s power base in the capital and on Wednesday shelled Mazzeh 86, a district mainly populated by members Al Assad’s Alawite minority. Sectarian divides are a key factor in Syria’s armed rebellion, with many in the Sunni Muslim majority frustrated at more than 40 years of Alawite-dominated rule. Air strikes also pounded the rebel-held town of Saqba just outside the capital, while helicopters could be seen circling over the East Ghuta area, some 50 kilometres northeast of Damascus, the Britain-based Observatory said. It says more than 37,000 people have died since the uprising against Assad’s regime erupted in March 2011, first as a protest movement and then an armed rebellion after the regime cracked down on demonstrations and opposition activists. In Geneva, International Committee of the Red Cross President Peter Maurer told reporters the aid group was finding it difficult to manage a crisis that has also forced hundreds of thousands from their homes. “The humanitarian situation is getting worse despite the scope of the operation increasing,” he said. “We can’t cope with the worsening of the situation.” The ICRC, which works in collaboration with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to deliver aid, has “a lot of blank spots” with regard to the needs of the people on the ground, he said. “There is an unknown number of people in Syria who do not get the aid they need,” Maurer said, adding that the Red Cross had no strategy in the country beyond taking action when and where it could.
