AMMAN, Jordan -- Rebels fought government forces in Damascus on Monday, in the most violent gun battles the Syrian capital has seen since the start of the year-long revolt against President Bashar Assad, opposition activists said.
The clashes near the center of Assad's power base appeared to be an attempt by rebels, who have been forced out of Homs and Idlib and came under attack in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Monday, to show they still pose a serious challenge.
Fighting erupted after midnight in the upmarket al-Mezzedistrict when up to six rebels fired a rocket propelled grenade at the house of an army general, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Quoting local residents, he said the gunmen then took refuge in a building where they battled soldiers, gunfire echoing throughout the neighborhood. The official Syrian news agency SANA said three rebels and one member of the security forces died.
Damascus residents told Reuters that the fighting in Mezze included an attack by rebels near the home of Assef Shawkat - Assad's brother-in-law and deputy chief-of-staff of the armed forces. It wasn't immediately clear if he was the prime target.
The armed confrontation came just two days after a double car bombing killed at least 27 people in the heart of the city, in a sign that the capital might be slowly sinking into mayhem.
"These clashes were the most violent and the closest to the security force headquarters in Damascus since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution," said Abdulrahman.
Video footage showed the top two floors of an unidentified apartment bloc scorched by fire, its walls and stairway pitted with bullet holes and shrapnel.
Reports from Syria cannot be independently verified because the authorities have barred access to rights groups and journalists.
The latest violence coincided with the arrival in Damascus of a team of five experts, sent by the U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, to discuss proposals to deploy international monitors in Syria.
Report: Assad's wife says she's 'the real dictator'
A separate team of experts from the United Nations and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, led by the Syrian government, also started a mission to assess humanitarian needs, a source close to the mission said on Monday.
The group is due to visit areas hit by the uprising including the central city of Homs, scene of a month-long siege and military bombardment in February, and Deraa, where the revolt against Assad erupted a year ago.
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