Syrian troops battled for control of some Damascus suburbs as diplomats intensified their efforts to secure a United Nations Security Council resolution calling on President Bashar al-Assad to step aside.
Activists said that at least 99 civilians had been killed across the country since Friday as the regime sought to regain areas where armed rebels have established a presence. Meanwhile, authorities said that six soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack in the suburbs alone.
The Arab League observer mission – to monitor Damascus’s compliance with an undertaking given in November to end the violence – suspended its operations on Saturday, citing “the critical deterioration of the situation in Syria and the continued use of violence”.