BEIRUT (Reuters) -
Syrians woke on New Year's Day to countrywide aerial bombardment, while
President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels fighting to topple him
clashed on the outskirts of the capital.
Residents of Damascus
entered the new year to the sound of artillery hitting southern and
eastern districts that form a rebel-held crescent on the outskirts of
the capital, the center of which is still firmly under government
control.
In the center, soldiers
manning checkpoints fired celebratory gunfire at midnight, causing alarm
in a city where streets were largely deserted.
"How can they celebrate? There is no 'Happy New Year'," Moaz
al-Shami, an opposition activists who lives in the capital's central
Mezzeh district, said over Skype, his voice trembling with anger.
He said rebel fighters attacked one checkpoint in the district
of Berzeh early on Tuesday. Opposition groups said mortar bombs hit the
southwest suburb of Daraya, where the army launched a military
offensive on Monday to retake the battered district.
Assad's air force pounded
Damascus's eastern suburbs, as well as rebel-held areas in the second
city Aleppo, and several rural towns and villages, opposition activists
said.
An estimated 45,000 people
have been killed in the revolt, which started in early 2011 with
peaceful protests demanding democratic reforms but turned into an armed
uprising after months of attacks on protesters by security forces.
A resident of the central
city of Homs, who asked to remain anonymous, said shells had landed on
the Old City early on Tuesday.
Homs lies on the strategic
north-south highway and parts of the ancient city have been leveled
during months of clashes. Government forces ousted rebels from the city
early last year but militants have slowly crept back in.
"The Old City is under siege. There is shelling from all sides," he said.
The opposition-linked
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group,
reported 160 people killed on the final day of 2012, including at least
37 government troops. The group's reports cannot be verified.
BOMBARDMENT
The civil war in Syria has become the longest and deadliest of
the conflicts that rose out of the uprisings that swept through the
Arab world over the past two years.
Many Sunni Muslims, the
majority in Syria, back the rebellion, while Assad, who hails from the
Shi'ite-derived Alawite minority sect, is backed by some minorities who
fear revenge if he falls. His family has ruled Syria harshly since his
father seized power in a coup 42 years ago.
Assad's forces have lately
relied more on aerial and artillery bombardment, rather than infantry.
Residential areas where rebels base themselves have been targeted,
killing civilians unable to flee. Schools and queues of people buying
bread have been hit.
Rebels have taken swathes of the north and the east but have
struggled to hold cities, complaining that they are defenseless against
Assad's Soviet-built air force.
A year ago, many diplomats and analysts predicted Assad would
leave power in 2012. But he has proved resilient and none of his inner
circle have defected. He still largely retains control of his armed
forces.
Diplomatic efforts to end
the war have faltered, with the rebels refusing to negotiate unless
Assad leaves power and him pledging to fight until death.
Most Western and Arab states have called for him to leave power. He is supported by Russia and Shi'ite Iran.
In the final days of 2012,
international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi called on countries to push the
sides to talk, saying Syria faced a choice of "hell or the political
process".
One Damascus resident, who
asked not to be identified for security reasons, said the usual new
year's eve crowds were absent from the increasingly isolated capital.
"There was hardly anyone
on the streets, no cars, no pedestrians. Most restaurants, cafes and
bars were empty," she said. Some young people gathered at three bars in
the old city.
"There was music but
nobody was dancing. They just sat there with a drink in their hands and
smoking. I don't think I saw one person smile," she said. The midnight
gunfire caused alarm.
"It was very scary. No one
knew what was going on. People got very nervous and started making
phone calls. But then I discovered that at least on my street, the
gunfire was celebratory."
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prosecutors will seek the