黑料社

DAMASCUS, Syria鈥擲yrian troops regained control of a rebellious neighborhood in Damascus on Friday as more than 300 people were reported killed the day before in a sharp escalation of the country鈥檚 civil war.

Activists reported that 310 people were killed in violence nationwide on Thursday, making it the single deadliest day of fighting since the revolt began.

Fighting has intensified over the past week as rebels closed in on the capital and launched their most serious blow yet on President Bashar al-Assad鈥檚 inner circle, killing top aides in a bomb blast on Wednesday as they attended a security meeting.

National security chief and close Assad adviser, Gen. Hisham Ikhtiyar, died on Friday of wounds suffered in the bombing, the fourth member of Assad鈥檚 inner circle to die in the blast, according to state-run TV.

State-run TV also said on Friday that government troops were fully in control of the rebellious Midan neighborhood on the southern edge of Damasacus, where fighting had raged for days.

Families flee

The fighting in Midan and several other districts turned parts of Damascus into combat zones and sent thousands of Syrian families packed in cars streaming across the border into neighboring Lebanon.

鈥淥ur heroic forces have completely cleansed the Midan area from the terrorist mercenaries,鈥� the TV said, using the term used by authorities to refer to rebels. It said authorities seized large quantities of weapons including machine guns, explosive belts, rocket-propelled grenades and communications equipment.

Damascus activist Khaled al-Shami, contacted via Skype, said rebels carried out a 鈥渢actical鈥� retreat to spare civilians further shelling after five days of intense clashes.

Eager to show that authorities were in control, the government took local journalists for a trip to Midan inside two armored personal carriers on Friday.

Scenes of destruction

An Associated Press reporter on the trip saw scenes of destruction, including dozens of damaged or charred cars, stores with shattered windows, and the corpses of at least six young men on the street. One of them, near the Saeed Bin Zeid Mosque, appeared to have been shot in the chest.

鈥淭he Mosque of the Free鈥� was written in red graffiti on the mosque鈥檚 outer wall.

Garbage littered the streets, shops were closed and the streets were almost deserted.

The violence in heavily guarded Damascus, seat of Assad鈥檚 power, pointed to an unraveling of his grip on power amid an uprising that began in March 2011 with peaceful protests inspired by the Arab Spring but became increasingly militarized as the opposition took up arms.

Even though Assad鈥檚 powerful military remains mostly loyal鈥攕uggesting a total collapse may not be imminent鈥攖he rebels appeared to be making startling gains in recent weeks.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday鈥檚 death toll included at least 93 government troops. Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees said 217 civilians were killed.

The figures could not be independently verified because of severe restrictions on journalists in Syria.

Besides the fighting in Damascus, about a half dozen rebels took over a Syrian border crossing near the Iraqi town of Qaim on Thursday, said Iraqi army Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Dulaimi. There are four major border posts with Iraq.

Rebels overtook a Syrian army outpost near the Syrian-Iraq border after clashes that killed 21 Syrian soldiers, he added.

Assad portraits

In addition, amateur video posted online showed rebels taking over the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, where they stomped on portraits of Assad. The Associated Press could not independently verify the video because the government bars most media from working independently in the country.

A Turkish official based in Reyhanli, on the Turkish side of the border gate of Bab al-Hawa, confirmed that the rebels had taken control of the frontier crossing.

Another official said Turkey had temporarily closed the border gate 鈥渇or security reasons.鈥� Both spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules that bar civil servants from speaking to journalists without authorization.

Friday鈥檚 clashes followed a deadly day of fighting across Syria, which the Observatory said killed 302 people, the highest daily toll since the uprising against Assad鈥檚 regime began more than 16 months ago.

22 soldiers executed

An AFP photographer reported that fighters of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) fought a raging battle with Syrian troops at Bab al-Hawa and that some 150 rebel fighters were on Friday in control of the crossing.

Rebels sacked the border post, which was bloodstained and riddled with bullets. They also looted Turkish lorries caught up in the battle.

On Thursday, Iraq鈥檚 deputy interior minister Adnan al-Assadi said the FSA had seized control of all crossings along their common border.

He said Iraqi border guards had seen FSA fighters detain a Syrian lieutenant colonel and cut off his arms and legs. 鈥淭hen they executed 22 Syrian soldiers in front of the eyes of Iraqi soldiers.鈥�

鈥楻amadan of victory鈥�

General Ikhtiyar died of wounds he suffered two days after a bombing at National Security headquarters killed three other top security officials.

Defense Minister Gen. Daoud Rajha, Assad鈥檚 brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and Gen. Hassan Turkmani, head of the regime鈥檚 crisis cell on the uprising, were all killed in the explosion.

Activists have called for fresh antiregime demonstrations after the regular weekly prayers on Friday under the slogan 鈥淭he Ramadan of victory will be written in Damascus.鈥�

Damascus dismissed comments by Russia鈥檚 envoy to Paris that Assad is ready to give up power.

鈥淭he comments attributed to the Russian ambassador to Paris on the fact that President Assad would agree to relinquish power in a civilized manner are totally baseless,鈥� state television said.

The denial came after Alexander Orlov told Radio France International that Assad was ready to cede power but only in a 鈥渃ivilized manner.鈥� With a report from New York Times 黑料社 Service