Syrian forces step up anti-rebel operations: NGO

Regime tanks and warplanes pounded besieged Mleiha east of Damascus today, pressing a campaign to take control of the opposition-held town, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Syrian warplanes also raided a rebel-held district in the northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 11 people, and 22 were wounded when mortar rounds slammed into central Damascus, the monitor said.
In Mleiha at least eight fighters, including a rebel commander, were killed in fierce fighting with government forces, said the Britain-based Observatory.
The previous day 22 opposition fighters were killed, said the Observatory which relies on medics and activists on the ground for its reports.

Today, regime warplanes launched at least four air raids on Mleiha, which like much of the Eastern Ghouta area east of Damascus has been under army siege for nearly six months.
Mleiha is near regime-held Jaramana, which is frequently shelled by the rebels, and yesterday six children were killed in one mortar attack, according to state news agency SANA.

Activist Abu Saqr, speaking to AFP via Skype from the Ghouta region, said that Syrian regime troops have been trying to storm Mleiha for the past two days.
But the rebel Free Syrian Army is blocking the offensive, he said.
The fighting has forced several families to flee to neighbouring areas, he said, adding that "Iraqi militiamen" are backing the loyalist army. His comments could not be independently verified.

The army launched a campaign in March last year to crush rebel bastions in Eastern Ghouta and blockaded the area completely in October, leading to residents suffering from food shortages.
In Damascus mortar rounds rained down on two districts today, wounding 22 people, said SANA which blamed "terrorists" -- the regime term for rebels.
Meanwhile the death toll from air raids on the Aleppo rebel-held district of Shaar rose to 11, the Observatory said, after reporting only two killed.
Hundreds of people, mostly civilians, have been killed in air strikes on rebel areas in Aleppo since the regime launched a major aerial offensive on the northern city in December.