Syrian forces are using heavy artillery and air attacks on rebels as fighting continues in Damascus and the second city of Aleppo, activists say. At least 41 people are reported dead in an artillery and helicopter bombardment of Damascus neighbourhoods over the last 24 hours, activists said. Shells also hit rebel-held areas of Aleppo, they said. Rights group Amnesty International warns that “civilians are enduring a horrific level of violence” there. A battle has been under way for a month in the commercial hub, whose fate is seen as key to the outcome of the wider struggle in Syria. Soldiers shelled districts and stormed houses, reported the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a UK-based opposition activist group. Fighting also erupted anew in districts of Aleppo which the army had already claimed to have “cleansed” of rebels, the Observatory said.
