Assad's army bombards Damascus after rebel attacks

The Syrian army bombarded rebel strongholds in southern Damascus on Monday with artillery and from the air, hours after opposition fighters attacked militia loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, opposition activists said.

Warplanes fired rockets and tanks and artillery pounded the neighbourhoods of Sbeineh, Yalda, Bibla, al-Tadamun and Hajar a-Aswad, they said. The working-class Sunni Muslim neighbourhoods have been at the forefront of the 19-month-old revolt against Assad.(Reuters)