Heavy fighting reported in Damascus between Free Syrian Army rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Heavy fighting reported in Damascus between Free Syrian Army rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.(AA).A heavy firefight broke out on Monday between Free Syrian Army rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in a main district of the Syrian capital Damascus that is home to several security installations, witnesses said, as experts from the U.N. and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) began a mission to assess the humanitarian impact of the year-long conflict.
They said the sound of heavy machinegun fire and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) echoed through the heavily guarded al-Mezze district. There was no immediate word on casualties but residents told Reuters by telephone the fighting was intense.
“There is fighting near Hamada supermarket and the sound of explosions there and elsewhere in the neighborhood. Security police have blocked several side streets and the street lighting has been cut off,” a housewife who lives in the area said.
As many as 47 people have been killed by the fire of Syrian forces across the country, activists at the Local Coordination Committees told Al Arabiya.
Activists said that more than 200 Syrian soldiers have defected in al-Qalmoun region in Damascus suburbs.
The fighting in the capital came after a car bomb ripped through a residential area of Syria’s second largest city Aleppo on Sunday, and as activists reported heavy clashes across the country between state forces and rebels fighting to overthrow Assad.As hundreds gathered on Sunday in Damascus to mourn victims of car bombings the previous day, activists said security forces beat and arrested people at a march of more than 200 when protesters began shouting “the people want to topple the regime.”
Among those arrested and beaten was Mohammed Sayyed Rassas, a leader of the National Coordinating Body for Democratic Change (NCB), an opposition group which had visited China and Russia in attempts to promote dialogue between Assad and the opposition.
Most opposition groups have rejected the NCB over its insistence on non-violence and its stance against foreign intervention.
Security forces also arrested Farzand Omar, a doctor and politician from the party “Building the Syria State,” when he arrived at the Damascus airport from his hometown of Aleppo.Read and see (Video) the full story here.