Shelling on southern Damascus as clashes rock Aleppo

Shelling on southern Damascus did not cease overnight and continued until early Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.   

Damascus residents told AFP that they could not sleep all night due to the sound of explosions targeting the capital.     

The Observatory reported that the city of Douma and the towns of al-Maadamiya and Aarbin in Damascus Reef were subject to heavy shelling by pro-regime troops.   

This as Aleppo witnesses fierce clashes between pro-regime troops and opposition fighters near the Nayrab Military airport, a site rebels attacked many times in the past few months failing to control it.    


International positions   

Ahead of talks with Syrian opposition officials, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Friday that Britain would like to be able to recognize the fledgling Syrian opposition coalition, but "needs to hear more about the body's plans."      

"We would like to be able to be in a position to recognize them as the sole legitimate representatives of the Syrian people, but I do want to hear more about their plans," Hague told BBC radio.     

On another note, the United Nations denied again Friday having given Damascus the permission to launch a military operation against opposition fighters in the Golan Heights. In a letter sent to Syria’s ambassador to the UN Thursday, it called on the Syrian army to stop “incursions” into the Golan Heights’ demilitarized zone.