Syrian forces tried to storm the rebel bastion of Rastan on Wednesday under cover of heavy gunfire, shelling and rocket bombardment, reports said, as Damascus admitted sanctions were biting hard. Meanwhile, the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) denied it was behind the abduction of Lebanese Shia pilgrims, an incident stoking tensions in neighbouring Lebanon, divided between pro- and anti-Damascus camps.
There was no word on any Rastan casualties, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 15 people were killed nation-wide, including seven troops shot dead at Qalamun in Damascus province as they tried to defect. As the violence continued to rage, Russia, one of Syria's rare allies, offered to host direct talks between the Damascus regime and rebel representatives, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said. Soldiers were trying to overrun Rastan for the second time in 10 days, with shells crashing into the town at the rate of "one a minute" at one stage, according to the Britain-based Observatory. An activist said FSA fighters were defending Rastan's entrances but that "regime forces are being strengthened with new deployments," including from the elite Republican Guard.
"Electricity has been cut off in Rastan, and water tanks have been shelled," Abu Rawan told AFP. "There is also a severe lack of food because the market is closed and we can't bring food in from nearby villages." Hours later, the activist said the army assault eased when a team of UN observers entered Rastan. "The situation is calm now because the UN monitors have arrived," having heard the shelling, Abu Rawan told AFP. "God protect us when they leave."
On May 14, 23 soldiers were killed in a failed assault on Rastan, a town straddling the main highway linking Damascus to the north and where rebels regrouped from the battered city of Homs. Elsewhere, troops fired on protesters in second city Aleppo in the north as about 1,500 people rallied against the regime, triggering armed clashes, said the Observatory.
Activists said lawyers and sympathisers with the revolt staged a sit-in at Aleppo's judicial complex to demand the release of political prisoners, and to pay tribute to four students killed at a May 3 rally in the city. The uprising against President Bashar al-Assad broke out with peaceful democracy protests in March 2011, prompting a fierce crackdown that spawned an increasingly militant response. More than 12,600 people have been killed, nearly 1,500 of them since a UN-backed truce took effect April 12, according to the Observatory.
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