BEIRUT — Syrian rebels fired grenades at tanks and troops while regime armor shelled Damascus neighborhoods Monday, sending terrified families fleeing the most sustained and widespread fighting in the capital since the start of the uprising 16 months ago.
A ring of clashes nearly encircled the heavily guarded capital as rebels seeking to overthrow President Bashar Assad pushed the civil war that has been building in Syria’s impoverished provinces closer to the seat of power.
Although the clashes were focused in a string of neighborhoods in the city’s southwest, for many of its 4 million people, the violence was brought scarily close to home.
In high-end downtown cafes frequented by the business and government elite tightly bound to the Assad regime, customers watched smoke billow on the horizon. The boom of government shells reverberated in the distance.
“Without a doubt, this is all anyone is talking about today,” a Damascus activist who gave his name as Noor Bitar said via Skype. “The sounds of war are clear throughout the city.”
Amateur videos posted online Monday gave glimpses of the fighting. In one, a dozen fighters crouched behind sandbags, firing at a tank down a rubble-strewn street with a machine gun and rocket-propelled grenades.
