Four killed as Syrian forces shell rebel strongholds

At least four people were killed and dozens wounded on Tuesday in ground and aerial bombardments of one of the last rebel strongholds in the Syrian capital Damascus, opposition activists said.

Numerous buildings were hit by artillery and helicopter gunfire in Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood, they said. Footage posted on the Internet by activists showed holes in buildings and rubble strewn in alleyways, Reuters reports.

Hajar al-Aswad is home to many Syrians who fled the Golan Heights in 1967 during the Six-Day War with Israel and many have now fled violence in the capital to return to villages near the border, 35 kms  to the southwest.

The neighbourhood is one of a series of Sunni Muslim districts on the edge of the capital that have been at the forefront of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, who belongs to the minority Alawite sect.

"Rebel operations from Hajar al-Assad had stopped, but today we saw the heaviest bombardment on the district in two months," said activist Abdallah Golan, from the opposition Damascus Media Center, speaking on the phone from the scene.