Activists: Pro-Assad sectarian group fights rebels in Damascus

Syrian rebels and a pro-government group clashed near a Shiite shrine on the outskirts of Damascus on Thursday, activists said, killing at least three people.

Thursday's clash about 1 km from the Sayyeda Zainab shrine, a pilgrimage spot for Shiites from across the region, appeared to pit men from a local pro-Assad Shiite militia against rebels drawn mostly from the Sunni Muslim majority. (Reuters)