Mortar rounds hit an upscale district of Damascus on Thursday as Syrian state TV broadcast images of President Bashar Assad attending prayers in the same area of the capital to mark the start of a Muslim holiday.
It was unclear if the shelling of Malki district was connected to Assad’s visit to the neighborhood’s Anas bin Malik Mosque. Information minister Omran al-Zoubi said the president and his convoy were not affected by the mortar attacks, telling state TV that Assad drove his own car to the mosque.
It was the Syrian leader’s third public appearance in over a week as his regime tries to capitalize on recent gains on the battlefield against rebels fighting to oust him from power.
On Wednesday, Syrian government troops ambushed a large group of rebels trudging through a desert road northeast of Damascus, killing more than 60 fighters.
In the state TV broadcast, Assad, dressed in a suit, was seen praying alongside Syria’s grand mufti at the start of Eid al-Fitr, the three-day holiday that ends the holy month of Ramzan.
It was unclear if the shelling of Malki district was connected to Assad’s visit to the neighborhood’s Anas bin Malik Mosque. Information minister Omran al-Zoubi said the president and his convoy were not affected by the mortar attacks, telling state TV that Assad drove his own car to the mosque.
It was the Syrian leader’s third public appearance in over a week as his regime tries to capitalize on recent gains on the battlefield against rebels fighting to oust him from power.
On Wednesday, Syrian government troops ambushed a large group of rebels trudging through a desert road northeast of Damascus, killing more than 60 fighters.
In the state TV broadcast, Assad, dressed in a suit, was seen praying alongside Syria’s grand mufti at the start of Eid al-Fitr, the three-day holiday that ends the holy month of Ramzan.