Activists fear large death toll near Damascus

This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows members of the free Syrian Army hiding behind scrap metal during an attack against Syrian government forces, in the neighborhood of al-Amerieh in Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, April. 21, 2013. The Syrian opposition called on Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from the country immediately, as activists said regime troops supported by pro-government gunmen linked to the Lebanese Shiite militant group battled rebels Sunday for control of a string of villages near the Lebanon-Syria border. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)

This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows members of the free Syrian Army hiding behind scrap metal during an attack against Syrian government forces, in the neighborhood of al-Amerieh in Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, April. 21, 2013. The Syrian opposition called on Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from the country immediately, as activists said regime troops supported by pro-government gunmen linked to the Lebanese Shiite militant group battled rebels Sunday for control of a string of villages near the Lebanon-Syria border. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Two Syrian activist groups say they fear the past six days of clashes in two Damascus suburbs may have killed hundreds of people.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the number of dead could be as high as 250.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, says the group has documented 80 names of those killed in Jdaidet Artouz and Jdaidet al-Fadel suburbs.

The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, says the death toll is 483. It says most of the people were killed in Jdaidet Artouz.

State-run news agency SANA said Syrian troops "inflicted heavy losses" on the rebels in the suburbs.

Monday's reports came as President Bashar Assad's forces continued a major offensive in the suburbs against opposition fighters who were closing in on parts of Damascus.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-22-Syria/id-6e7d5a5fe3c6487db01965b5ba990dbe

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