Syria conflict: ‘Fierce clashes’ near Damascus airport

BBC, 29 Nov 2012 – The main road to the airport of the Syrian capital Damascus has been closed and there have been no flights since early morning, as rebel groups reported fierce fighting in the area.
Emirates Airlines and Egypt Air cancelled flights to Damascus because of the “deteriorating situation”.
Residents spoke of an unprecedented government offensive in the east of the city.
The clashes came as internet and phone systems in the country went down.
The Syrian government has previously cut off access to the internet during major operations, but correspondents say a nationwide switch-off is unprecedented.
But the information minister said “terrorists” had cut off the internet and that engineers were working to repair the fault.
Peacekeepers wounded
Despite the blackout, the BBC was able to get through to residents in the centre of Damascus, who said they could hear and see what they believed to be the biggest army offensive so far against rebel-held districts.
The offensive appears to be going on in the east of the city, extending to the airport 27km (17 miles) south-east of the centre.
The main road to the airport passes through rebel-held territory which has regularly been the target of government air strikes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group, also reported a major government offensive, saying clashes were most intense in the suburb of Babbila, near the rebel stronghold of Tadamun.
The group, whose information cannot be independently verified, said there were clashes all along the road. One rebel fighter told Reuters news agency mortars had been fired at the airport runway.
State TV said government forces were fighting “al-Qaeda elements”, mostly in the suburbs of Duma and Daraya.
Two Austrian soldiers from a UN peacekeeping force deployed in the Golan Heights, disputed by Syria and Israel, were wounded as their convoy came under fire on the road to the airport.
Their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
There are no reports of rebels being inside the airport.
On Wednesday, two car bombs hit Druze and Christian areas, also to the south-east of Damascus, killing 34 people.
No group has said it was behind the bombings, and there was no immediately obvious military or government target, reports the BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut.
Activists say more than 40,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.