Rebels battled today to seize an air base in northern Syria, part of a campaign to fight back against the air power that has given President Bashar al-Assad's forces free rein to bomb rebel-held towns
An air strike on a rebel-held town southwest of the Syrian capital Damascus killed 20 people, resident opposition activists said.
Syrian army forces pounded rebel-held suburbs around Damascus with fighter jets and rockets today, activists said, killing at least ten and wounding dozens in an offensive to stop rebels closing in on the capital.
Syria would not use chemical weapons, if it had them, against its own people, the foreign ministry said in a statement on state television today.
Government war planes bombed opposition-held areas of Syria and President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels fought on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on New Year's Day today.
Syrian rebels attacked army roadblocks in Midan district in the heart of Damascus today to relieve pressure on outlying rebel strongholds being pounded by air strikes and artillery, opposition activists said.
Syrian rebels said they had captured a helicopter base east of Damascus after an overnight assault, their latest gain in a costly battle to unseat President Bashar al-Assad that is drawing nearer to his seat of power.
Syrian jets bombed rebel-held areas of Damascus, residents said, as the opposition indicated it could accept an international peacekeeping force if President Bashar al-Assad is forced from power.
The international mediator on Syria will go to Damascus in the next few days to try to broker a brief ceasefire in the war between President Bashar al-Assad's government and rebels during the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival.
Fighting across Syria and a large car bomb which exploded near a children's playground in southern Damascus killed several people today as a ceasefire brokered by international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to mark a holy Muslim day frayed almost before it had begun.
A bomb exploded near army and security compounds in Damascus, Syrian television reported, and fractured opposition groups seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad began unity talks abroad to win international respect and arms supplies.
Syrian rebels bombed a military complex in Damascus, striking at the heart of President Bashar al-Assad's power and igniting a fire which gutted the army command headquarters.
Turkey returned fire after Syrian mortar bombs landed in a field in southern Turkey today, the day after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned Damascus that the country would not shy away from war if provoked.
Turkey's military chief of staff said today his troops would respond with greater force if bombardments from Syria keep hitting its territory.
Syria said new UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi could only make headway if outside countries ceased helping rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad and instead declared support for a UN-backed peace plan.
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus today during a mission to push for better access for aid workers, an ICRC spokesman said.
Syrian rebels said they planted bombs inside the Syrian army's General Staff headquarters in central Damascus on Sunday as President Bashar al-Assad's forces bulldozed buildings to the ground in parts of the capital that have backed the uprising.
United Nations military observers left Damascus after a four-month mission in which they became helpless spectators of Syria's spiraling conflict, instead of monitoring a ceasefire between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels.
Troops and tanks swept into a restive town near Damascus today in an assault aimed at crushing opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, whose struggle for survival has dragged Syria into an increasingly bloody war.
Syrian fighter planes made rare sorties on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, killing at least 60 people in its eastern suburbs, the same day a Syrian military helicopter crashed while under rebel fire, activists said.
At least 11 people were killed in fierce fighting that broke out in a Damascus suburb today when Syrian forces mounted an armoured attack to try and regain the area from rebels, opposition activists said.
A bomb exploded in central Damascus today near several military buildings and a hotel housing UN observers, wounding three people and sending a pillar of black smoke into the sky above the Syrian capital.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad performed Eid prayers in a Damascus mosque today, state television showed, his first appearance in public since a stunning July bombing in the capital that killed four of his top security officials.
Syrian forces bombarded parts of Damascus with helicopter gunships, witnesses said, clawing back territory from the rebels a week after the fighters launched what they called a final battle for the capital.
Damascus and Syria's second biggest city, Aleppo, came under shell fire today as troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad stepped up efforts to crush rebels threatening the government's two main power centres.
Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab has defected to the opposition seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, a spokesman for Hijab said today, marking one of the most high profile desertions from the Damascus government.
Two rebel Syrian groups claimed responsibility for an explosion in Damascus today that killed several top state officials, hailing it as successful strike at the heart of the government.
A fourth member of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle died today from a bomb attack this week and his forces fought to recapture border posts and parts of Damascus from rebels who have converged on the capital.
Syrian troops backed by helicopters and tanks have struck back in Damascus against rebel fighters emboldened by a bomb attack against President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle.
The Turkish and Syrian navies conducted a joint search today for Turkish airmen shot down by Syria over the Mediterranean, only a short distance from a Turkish province hosting thousands of rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.
Kofi Annan said he had constructive talks in Damascus today with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who said the UN peace envoy's plan to end 16 months of bloodshed was being undermined by US political support for "terrorists".
Syria's defence minister was killed in a bomb attack on a high level security meeting in Damascus today, state television said, as the revolt against Bashar al-Assad struck at the heart of the president's inner circle.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that Syria's conflict is deepening and attacks on civilian areas show no sign of abating, despite assurances from Damascus that it has begun withdrawing troops under an international peace plan.
Gunmen in inflatable dinghies killed several security officials in an attack on a military unit on Syria's Mediterranean coast, state media said on Saturday, the first seaborne assault reported during the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
Two bomb explosions killed 40 people and wounded 170 in Damascus today, state media reported, incinerating people in their cars and damaging an intelligence complex involved in President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on a 14-month-old uprising.
Two explosions struck the heart of Damascus, killing at least 27 people in an attack on security installations that state television blamed on "terrorists" seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
A car bomb hit Syria's second city Aleppo, a day after blasts killed 27 in Damascus, and security forces arrested and beat activists at a rare anti-government protest in the capital.
Syria has pledged to withdraw all military units from towns by April 10 to pave the way for a ceasefire with rebels two days later, th ough Western envoys were sceptical about Damascus' intent to halt its year-long assault on opponents.
The United States announced it was closing its embassy in Syria due to the worsening security situation, further isolating Damascus over its bloody crackdown on anti-government protests.
Syrian forces opened fire with live ammunition on demonstrators in Damascus overnight, wounding at least four, activists said as unrest continued to spread in the capital.
Britain announced today that the UK is closing its embassy in Syria and withdrawing British diplomats. It has assured, however, Britain is not breaking diplomatic ties with Damascus.
Syrian forces killed one person and arrested dozens in raids on an eastern tribal region today as part of a crackdown on dissent which could lead to European Union oil sanctions on Damascus as early as next week.
Two car bomb attacks on Syrian security sites in Damascus killed at least 40 people and wounded 55 others, most of them civilian, the Lebanese news channel Al Manar said today.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, fighting 10 months of pro-democracy protests, greeted thousands of rapturous supporters in a Damascus square today, only a day after breaking a six-month public silence.
Syrian security forces killed 23 protesters demanding an end to President Bashar al-Assad's rule, rights campaigners said, and the European Union agreed to impose sanctions in response to his crackdown.
"Tell the world Bashar is without legitimacy," shouted several thousand protesters in the Damascus suburb of Irbin, an eyewitness said, the chants echoing over the phone. Syria has expelled most foreign journalists.
Syrian forces killed dozens of protesters despite assurances by President Bashar al-Assad that a crackdown was over, and thousands of people rallied across the Arab nation with renewed vigour demanding political freedoms.