SYRIA Al-Qaida steps up violence against government

Associated Press

BEIRUT

Under pressure from fellow insurgents and escalating airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition, Syria’s al-Qaida branch is stepping up violence against President Bashar Assad’s strongholds with precise, high-profile attacks, including a surprising breach of the capital in the most serious infiltration in years.

Sunday’s attack, in which insurgents used tunnels they control in northeastern Damascus neighborhoods to hit government positions, appears to have caught the Syrian military off guard.

It was a grim reminder that the fighting is far from over, despite significant advances by Assad’s forces against rebels across the country in the past year.

The government dispatched some of its elite forces to halt the offensive, which began shortly before sunrise with two suicide bombers from an al-Qaida-linked group.

The bombers, a Saudi and a Syrian, detonated their explosives-laden trucks against army positions on the eastern edge of the capital amid a barrage of artillery shells that landed in the heart of Damascus.

Dozens of insurgents penetrated the city’s defenses and captured several blocks northeast of Damascus, triggering fierce clashes that lasted for hours before the fighters were pushed back to where they started.

Insurgent groups repeatedly have tried to break Damascus’ defenses in recent years. Syria’s al-Qaida’s branch has used suicide bombers targeting government security installations since the early days of the conflict.