BEIRUT/PARIS: A car bomb exploded on Sunday in a government-held area outside the Syrian capital, killing at least five people and wounding 15, state media said.
The car bomb was detonated outside Sasa, southwest of Damascus. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-run monitoring group, said the explosion near a government checkpoint killed four, including three members of military intelligence. The state news agency didn’t identify those killed, but said the wounded included women and children.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Fatah Al-Sham Front claimed the attack, saying a gunman opened fire on the checkpoint before a suicide bomber struck.
Fighting has raged in opposition-held areas near Damascus despite a Dec. 30 nationwide cease-fire, including in the Barada Valley region, the primary source of water for the capital. A local truce there collapsed Sunday as the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, an ally of the government, announced a resumption of military operations after a 24-hour pause.
The fighting has severely restricted the flow of water to the 4 million residents of Damascus, which has been without a reliable supply of tap water for more than two weeks.
Opposition activists say the truce failed because the government is asking the opposition to give up control of the entire valley.
The Observatory and another opposition group, the Wadi Barada Media Center, reported at least 13 airstrikes Sunday on villages in the valley. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Assad denies war crimes charges
Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview with French media to be aired on Monday that his forces are on the road to victory after recapturing the key city of Aleppo last month.
“We do not consider that (retaking Aleppo from the opposition) as a victory because victory will be when we have eliminated all the terrorists,” Assad said, according to a French translation of his remarks provided by France’s RTL television.
“But it is a critical moment in this war because we are on the path to victory.”
Earlier in Damascus, Assad told visiting French lawmakers that he was “optimistic” about new peace talks planned for later this month in Kazakhstan.
Lawmaker Thierry Mariani said the Syrian president also declared himself willing to negotiate with nearly 100 opposition groups fighting against his government, excluding militant organizations.
Mariani added that Assad criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accusing him of jailing “more political prisoners than all the Arab countries put together.”
And he said the Syrian leader dismissed accusations of war crimes by his forces by saying that no wars were clean.
“There were probably mistakes on the part of the government” that Assad said he would “condemn” and “regret,” Mariani said.
More than 310,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
The violence has displaced more than half the country’s population and caused massive destruction.
The talks in Astana are being organized by regime allies Russia and Iran and rebel backer Turkey, following a fragile nationwide cease-fire currently in effect in Syria.
Assad told visiting French lawmakers on Sunday that he was “optimistic” about new peace talks planned for later this month, a member of the delegation told AFP.
Lawmaker Thierry Mariani said the Syrian president also declared himself willing to negotiate with nearly 100 rebel groups fighting against his government, excluding jihadist organizations.
Assad received the three French lawmakers in the capital Damascus on Sunday, a day after the delegation visited second city Aleppo, recently recaptured by the government.
Assad told the delegation he was “counting a lot” on the new peace talks expected to be convened later this month in the Kazakh capital Astana.
They are being organized by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey, who jointly brokered a fragile nationwide cease-fire currently in effect in Syria.
Regime ally Iran is also helping to organize the talks, which Turkey suggested could be convened around the last week of January.
Mariani said Assad told the delegation he was “ready to talk” with some 91 rebel groups, not including the Daesh group or former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh Al-Sham Front.
Assad said he was “optimistic” and “ready for reconciliation with them on the condition that they lay down their arms,” Mariani said.
The car bomb was detonated outside Sasa, southwest of Damascus. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-run monitoring group, said the explosion near a government checkpoint killed four, including three members of military intelligence. The state news agency didn’t identify those killed, but said the wounded included women and children.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Fatah Al-Sham Front claimed the attack, saying a gunman opened fire on the checkpoint before a suicide bomber struck.
Fighting has raged in opposition-held areas near Damascus despite a Dec. 30 nationwide cease-fire, including in the Barada Valley region, the primary source of water for the capital. A local truce there collapsed Sunday as the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, an ally of the government, announced a resumption of military operations after a 24-hour pause.
The fighting has severely restricted the flow of water to the 4 million residents of Damascus, which has been without a reliable supply of tap water for more than two weeks.
Opposition activists say the truce failed because the government is asking the opposition to give up control of the entire valley.
The Observatory and another opposition group, the Wadi Barada Media Center, reported at least 13 airstrikes Sunday on villages in the valley. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Assad denies war crimes charges
Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview with French media to be aired on Monday that his forces are on the road to victory after recapturing the key city of Aleppo last month.
“We do not consider that (retaking Aleppo from the opposition) as a victory because victory will be when we have eliminated all the terrorists,” Assad said, according to a French translation of his remarks provided by France’s RTL television.
“But it is a critical moment in this war because we are on the path to victory.”
Earlier in Damascus, Assad told visiting French lawmakers that he was “optimistic” about new peace talks planned for later this month in Kazakhstan.
Lawmaker Thierry Mariani said the Syrian president also declared himself willing to negotiate with nearly 100 opposition groups fighting against his government, excluding militant organizations.
Mariani added that Assad criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accusing him of jailing “more political prisoners than all the Arab countries put together.”
And he said the Syrian leader dismissed accusations of war crimes by his forces by saying that no wars were clean.
“There were probably mistakes on the part of the government” that Assad said he would “condemn” and “regret,” Mariani said.
More than 310,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
The violence has displaced more than half the country’s population and caused massive destruction.
The talks in Astana are being organized by regime allies Russia and Iran and rebel backer Turkey, following a fragile nationwide cease-fire currently in effect in Syria.
Assad told visiting French lawmakers on Sunday that he was “optimistic” about new peace talks planned for later this month, a member of the delegation told AFP.
Lawmaker Thierry Mariani said the Syrian president also declared himself willing to negotiate with nearly 100 rebel groups fighting against his government, excluding jihadist organizations.
Assad received the three French lawmakers in the capital Damascus on Sunday, a day after the delegation visited second city Aleppo, recently recaptured by the government.
Assad told the delegation he was “counting a lot” on the new peace talks expected to be convened later this month in the Kazakh capital Astana.
They are being organized by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey, who jointly brokered a fragile nationwide cease-fire currently in effect in Syria.
Regime ally Iran is also helping to organize the talks, which Turkey suggested could be convened around the last week of January.
Mariani said Assad told the delegation he was “ready to talk” with some 91 rebel groups, not including the Daesh group or former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh Al-Sham Front.
Assad said he was “optimistic” and “ready for reconciliation with them on the condition that they lay down their arms,” Mariani said.
