Fierce Battles near Damascus as Fighting Rages between Jihadists, Kurds in North

Fierce battles gripped Barzeh in northern Damascus on Friday as regime troops pressed a campaign aimed at crushing rebel enclaves around the capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

In Hasakeh in the north, fighting between the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Kurdish forces left an unknown number of dead on both sides, the Britain-based Observatory added.

The monitoring group later reported several air strikes across the country, including in Yabrud near Damascus that was hit by five separate strikes. A man and woman were reportedly killed in the bombardment.

The air force also struck Mayadeen in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, killing at least three people.