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Five killed as rebels attack Damascus security compounds: activists

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A view shows wreckage after Syrian rebels attacked a security compound at Bab Musalla area in Damascus June 23, 2013, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters

A view shows wreckage after Syrian rebels attacked a security compound at Bab Musalla area in Damascus June 23, 2013, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA.

Credit: Reuters/SANA/Handout via Reuters

AMMAN | Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:57pm EDT

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels attacked two security compounds in Damascus on Sunday, killing at least five people, opposition activists in the capital said.

Fighters attacked a compound in the district of Rukn al-Deen with explosives and another in Bab Musalla with mortar rounds, they said.

The compound in Rukn al-Deen served as a base for shabbiha militia loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, the activists said.

They said clashes were taking place between rebels and Assad's forces in the area, close to the Qaboun and Barzeh neighborhoods which have been under heavy army shelling in the past few days to drive out insurgents.

It was unclear if those killed were police officers, militia fighters or civilians.

Syrian official television said three civilians were killed in Rukn al-Deen in what it described as a suicide attack.

The reports could not be independently verified as the Syrian government restricts access to independent media.

(Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Amman newsroom; Editing by Pravin Char)
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Comments (8)
Slammy wrote:
Smart move, hug your enemy. The rebels are hitting high valued targets close to the regimes base of power. The regime will either need to increase security, pulling troops from the front lines, or deal with attacks on its central infrastructure.

Jun 23, 2013 9:35am EDT  --  Report as abuse
queequeg wrote:
Good luck Slammy!
Did you set your “head” on some other imaginary countdown?

Jun 23, 2013 11:23am EDT  --  Report as abuse
Fromkin wrote:
It’s a suicide bombing. Not a rebels’attack. There is no rebellion no more in Syria but terror attacks by al Qaida affiliated groups which are described as the most EFFECTIVE fighters by Western media and leaders. TERROR ATTACKS=EFFECTIVE FIGHTING=INSANITY.

SUICIDE BOMBING IS A TERROR ATTACK. NOT JUSTIFIED IN WASHINGTON,BOSTON,PARIS,LONDON BUT SOMEHOW JUSTIFIED IN DAMASCUS.

Jun 23, 2013 11:49am EDT  --  Report as abuse
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