AMMAN (Reuters) – Free Syrian Army fighters captured a town on the Turkish border on Thursday in a push to seize control of frontier areas from President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, a rebel commander and opposition sources said.

Ten people were killed in clashes as rebels took Ras al-Ain, an Arab and Kurd town in the northeastern oil-producing province of Hasaka, 600 km (375 miles) from Damascus, the sources said.

AMMAN, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Syrian rebels fired mortars at
President Bashar al-Assad’s palace in Damascus on Wednesday but
missed, in an attack underlining the growing boldness of forces
fighting to end his family’s 42 years in power.

Residents told Reuters the heavy-calibre shells hit a
neighbouring residential district that is home to members of
Assad’s Alawite sect. State-run media said at least three people
were killed and seven wounded in what it described as a
“terrorist attack”.

AMMAN, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Multiple bomb explosions on
Wednesday hit a hilltop area in Damascus populated by members of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite sect, marking
escalation of sectarian attacks in a conflict that has deepened
religious Middle East divides.

The attack occurred a day after deadly tit-for-tat attacks
in segregated neighbourhoods of the capital, deepening the
divide between the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam
backed by Iran that has ruled Syria since the 1960s, and Sunnis
leading the 19-month revolt against the Assad family rule.

JEDDAH/AMMAN (Reuters) – Bombs exploded in three districts of the Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday, killing and wounding dozens, and gunmen shot dead the brother of the parliament speaker in the latest rebel attack on a figure associated with the ruling elite.

The opposition said at least 100 more people were killed elsewhere in the civil war, and Britain suggested offering President Bashar al-Assad immunity from prosecution as a way of persuading him to leave power.

JEDDAH/AMMAN, Nov 6 (Reuters) – Deadly explosions struck a
Damascus district housing members of Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad’s Alawite sect live and gunmen killed the brother of
the speaker of parliament, as violence escalated in the capital.

Britain suggested offering Assad immunity from prosecution
as a way of persuading him to leave power. The opposition said
at least 100 more people were killed in the 19-month old revolt.

AMMAN, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Syrian warplanes and artillery
battered rebel strongholds in southern Damascus on Monday in an
onslaught that coincided with another attempt by Syria’s
fragmented opposition to unite.

A Western diplomat said the assault in Damascus marked a
major escalation in a campaign by President Bashar al-Assad’s
forces to quell opposition in the capital’s Sunni Muslim areas.

AMMAN (Reuters) – 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.

The 50-kilogram (110-pound) bomb, near a large hotel in a heavily guarded district, was described by state media as an attack by “terrorists” – the government’s term for insurgents in the 19-month-old uprising against Assad.

AMMAN (Reuters) – A bomb exploded near army and security compounds in Damascus on Sunday, Syrian television said, and fractured opposition groups seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad began unity talks abroad to win international respect and arms supplies.

The 50-kilogram (110-pound) bomb, near a large hotel in a heavily guarded district, was described by state media as an attack by “terrorists” – the government’s term for insurgents in the 19-month-old uprising against Assad.

AMMAN (Reuters) – The fragmented Syrian opposition will attempt once again this weekend to forge a common policy to gain international respect, obtain weapons and, most importantly, topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a formerly imprisoned dissident said.

“An alternative to the regime is dearly needed,” said Riad Seif, a liberal politician who is battling cancer and managed to leave Syria only a few months ago after having been imprisoned.

AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian government war planes have intensified air strikes on suburbs of the capital Damascus that have fallen under rebel control, taking the death and destruction to new levels in the 19-month-old conflict.

Civilians have been the main victims, activists say. Footage posted by the opposition shows scenes of carnage, with mangled bodies and houses reduced to rubble.