Clashes intensify in Syria as peace talks date announced

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DAMASCUS, Nov. 25 -- The intensity of clashes between the rebels and the Syrian government troops have intensified over the past couple of days and is expected to continue in the coming days following announcement of the date of the Geneva II conference on Syrian crisis, experts said.

The clashes have started to intensify on Saturday when the rebels tried to break the government troops' siege on the Eastern al-Ghouta countryside of the capital Damascus.

The rebels have also unleashed their counteroffensive to cover for their losses in northern Damascus, namely in the strategic al- Qalamoun Mountains, which connects Damascus with central and coastal Syrian provinces. The mountains are also located on the borders with neighboring Lebanon.

Syria's mainstream media said the army managed to repel the rebels attack and eliminated scores the rebels and their weaponries.

The local al-Watan newspaper said Monday that more than 100 rebel fighters had been killed over the past two days in al-Ghouta.

The battles in the south and east of Damascus have been coupled with others in the northern rim of the capital, namely in Deir Attieh town, located in the al-Qalamoun Mountains.

The victory in al-Qalamoun is crucial to the Syrian troops as ridding the rebel-held area would secure the road that connects Damascus in the south with central and northern Syria, and cut off the rebels' supply line from neighboring Lebanon.

Aside from the clashes in southern and northern Damascus, the Syrian troops have also unleashed a wide-scale operation in the southeastern countryside of Aleppo, dislodging rebels from a string of towns in a bid to push further into the rebel-held parts of the city.

The official SANA news agency said at least 11 people were killed on Monday in a mortar attack that struck the al-Jamilieh neighborhood in Aleppo, adding that 20 others were wounded.

SANA said Monday's attack was carried out by "terrorists," referring to the al-Qaida-linked rebels.

In Damascus, two people were injured by a fresh mortar attack against three neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, the army killed and wounded more than 50 rebels in the southern province of Daraa, said SANA, adding that the army also killed 12 rebels in the eastern countryside of Damascus.

Maher Morhej, the head of the Youth Party, told Xinhua that the coming days will witness further escalation in clashes between the Syrian army and the rebels "because it's well-known that the one who has more power on ground would be stronger in the negotiations. "

The situation on ground would set the course and the results of Geneva II conference, he said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday announced that he will convene the Geneva II conference on Syria in Geneva on Jan. 22, 2014.

Hassan Abdul-Azim, the head of the oppositional National Coordination Body, told Xinhua that setting a date for the peace conference would put Syrian on the track of peaceful resolution that could decrease the rate of violence, which has reached to " unprecedented levels."

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