Syrian army fights rebels in ‘turning point’ city battle

Syria’s army deployed armoured vehicles near central Damascus as troops battled rebels around the capital in what activists said could be a turning point in the 16-month uprising.

Meanwhile, Russia has slammed as “blackmail” Western pressure to push for a UN Security Council resolution against Syria and said it would be “unrealistic” for ally President Bashar al-Assad to quit.

With battles raging between the army and rebels around Damascus for a second straight day, troops deployed armoured vehicles near the historic neighbourhood of Al-Midan.

“This is the first time that armoured and military transport vehicles are deployed in Al-Midan,” said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “Before, the security forces were deployed to suppress protests. Now we have army troops engaged in combat,” said the director of the British-based watchdog.

An activist on the ground said the army was trying to overrun Al-Midan and described the fighting as a “turning point” in the revolt against Assad’s autocratic regime.

The battles are “the first of their kind. You can say there is a before and after in the Syrian revolution, and the turning point was July 15,” said the activist, who identified himself as Abu Musab.

Activists said the army and Free Syrian Army rebels had been locked in fierce clashes since Sunday in the southern Damascus neighbourhood of Tadamon, Kfar Sousa in the west, and Jobar in the east.

They said the clashes are the worst in the capital since the start of the uprising in Mar 2011.