Heavy fighting raged on the outskirts of Damascus as Syrian government troops with tanks tried to recapture a strategic suburb from rebels in one of the biggest military operations in the area in months.
Five people, including a child, died from army rocket fire at Daraya, opposition activists said.
Daraya is one of a series of Sunni Muslim suburbs ringing Syria's capital that have been at the forefront of the 21-month-old revolt against President Bashar al Assad.
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