Fierce fighting in Damascus, Syria as armored vehicles roll inhttp://reut.rs/Lste5q
Syrian forces surround rebels fighting in capital
BEIRUT | Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:17pm EDT
(Reuters) - Syrian government forces encircled rebel fighters in Damascus on Monday, waging a second day of fighting that residents described as the worst to hit the capital since the 17-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began.
Armored vehicles rolled into the southern district of Midan and were reinforced by security forces surrounding the area in the late afternoon. Residents said they saw snipers deployed on rooftops.
"There are troops everywhere, I can hear ambulances," said a resident near Midan. "It feels like a war in Damascus."
The spread of fighting in the capital comes as United Nations envoy Kofi Annan starts a two-day visit to Moscow to try to promote a peace plan forSyria. He will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has resisted Western calls to increase pressure on Assad.
A video uploaded by opposition activists aired on al-Jazeera network showed men in jeans hiding behind sandbagged Damascus alleyways, firing rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns. Fighting raged on and off in Midan and Tadamon on Monday after unprecedented battles on Sunday.
A fighter told
