video transcript

Fighting between opposition forces and those loyal to President Bashar al-Assad worsens in the Syrian capital Damascus. Unverified video shows flames and smoke rising from a building. Moulhem Droubi of the opposition's Syrian National Council says he believes Assad has left his residence and is headed to the mountains. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEMBER OF SYRIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL, MOULHEM DROUBI, SAYING: "He (Assad) is in Damascus. He is not in the Palace. He is in Damascus but we believe that as things are getting worse and worse for him he will probably start to go to his mountain in the west of Syria." There's no question that Syrian residents have fled. Thousands of refugees have flooded into neighbouring Turkey. A Turkish official said a Syrian brigadier general and several other military defectors have joined the revolt. The Red Cross now classifies the conflict as a civil war. Julie Noce, Reuters