Middle East
16 July 2012
Last updated at 06:13 GMT
The BBC's Jim Muir says fighting has intensified in many parts of Syria
The
Syrian capital Damascus has seen some of the heaviest fighting of the
conflict so far, according to reports from activists and residents.
Mortar and small-arms fire was reported in several areas as government forces clashed with the Free Syrian Army.
The fighting came as UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan
prepared to meet Russia's foreign minister for talks on the Syrian
crisis.
Russia has been backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Mr Annan is expected to urge Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
to put pressure on the Syrian authorities to begin a political
transition, although BBC Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg says there
is little sign that the Kremlin is ready to do that.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said the conflict in Syria is now in effect a civil war.
It means combatants across Syria are now subject to the
Geneva Conventions and could be liable for war crimes prosecution in the
future.
The ICRC had previously regarded only the areas around Idlib, Homs and Hama as warzones.
'Residents fleeing'
The BBC's Jim Muir says clashes between government forces and
Free Syrian Army rebels seem to be creeping ever closer to the heart of
Damascus and the centre of the regime's power.
Mortars were reportedly used on the southern edge of the
city, in areas like Tadhamon and Midan and around nearby Palestinian
refugee camps.
Activists said clashes continued into the early hours of the morning.
A convoy of army reinforcements was reported to have been
attacked by rebels in Kfar Sousa to the west, leading to further clashes
there.
Residents were said to be fleeing some areas, while in other parts of the city protesters blocked motorways with burning tyres.
There has been frequent trouble in these areas - barely three miles (4-5km) from the centre - for months.
But as with many of the suburbs ringing the city slightly
further out, all the government's repeated efforts to stifle defiance
have failed, our correspondent says.
The government has denied that it had used heavy weapons in its attack on the village of Tremseh on Thursday.
UN observers arrived in Tremseh as villagers claimed military forces had carried out indiscriminate attacks
Activists initially described fighting in Tremseh, which is
near the city of Hama, as a massacre of dozens of civilians, but later
accounts suggested most of the dead were armed rebels.
UN observers at the scene have said Syrian forces used heavy
artillery, tanks and helicopters, but Damascus denies those allegations
and said just two civilians had been killed.
The accusations, if proved, would mean Damascus had broken an agreement it made with UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.
Further pressure was put on the government of President
Bashar al-Assad when the International Committee of the Red Cross, which
oversees the Geneva Conventions, said fighting had now spread beyond
the three hotspots of Idlib, Homs and Hama.
Spokesman Hicham Hassan said Syria was now regarded as a
"non-international armed conflict", which is the technical term for
civil war.
"What matters is that international humanitarian law applies
wherever hostilities between government forces and opposition groups are
taking place across the country," he said.
Geneva conventions
The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says the statement is
significant because it is the Red Cross' job to monitor the conduct of
the fighting, and to tell warring parties what their obligations are.
Under the Geneva Conventions, indiscriminate attacks on
civilians, attacks on medical personnel or the destruction of basic
services like water or electricity are forbidden and can be prosecuted
as war crimes.
From now on, all those fighting in Syria are officially
subject to the laws of war, and could end up at a war crimes tribunal if
they disobey them.
The ICRC's announcement echoes both the UN's head of
peacekeeping Herve Ladsous and President Assad, who has said the country
is at war.
Some 16,000 people are thought to have been killed since the uprising against Mr Assad's regime began in March 2011.
UN diplomats are attempting to agree a way forward for the organisation's monitoring mission in the country.
The mission's mandate runs out on Friday, and Western nations
are trying to get Russia and China to agree to a strengthened
resolution authorising sanctions.
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