Syrian troops advance against rebels in Damascus

 
Syria's main Western-backed opposition said on Sunday that 200 civilians are trapped in a mosque in a suburb of the Syrian capital as fighting rages outside between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.                       

The Syrian Coalition called on the United Nations in a statement to send "a strong warning" to Assad that he "must immediately release" the civilians in the Damascus suburb of Qaboun.                                         

It did not say if the 200 had sought refuge in the mosque or were already there praying when fighting began.                                           

It warned that thousands of civilians in Qaboun could be "massacred" by Assad's army, as armored vehicles and elite forces move into the neighborhood.                             

On the field:       

Heavy clashes between President Bashar Assad's forces and rebels broke out Sunday on the edge of the Syrian capital, where the government has been pushing its offensive to retake key districts that have been in opposition hands for months.                  

The Syrian military has seized the momentum in the nation's civil war over the past three months, wresting back territory lost to rebel forces and solidifying its hold on contested areas, particularly on the fringes of Damascus.