Fierce fighting on Damascus' outskirts -- SANA

AMMAN, March 24 (KUNA) -- Syrian Government troops and opposition groups' fighters engaged in fierce fighting on outskirts of Damascus and in the central region of Hama on Friday.
Official news agency, SANA, reported army units engaged in clashes with gunmen who have recently advanced into the industrial zone in Jobar, in the Damascus eastern vicinity.
The gunmen suffered deaths in the fighting in Jobar and other regions in the capital's suburbs, SANA said, indicating that heavy arms namely artillery and rocket launchers were employed in the renewed fighting around the city.
Army warplanes bombed gunmen's convoys heading from Eastern Al-Ghouta in direction of Jobar and other areas deeper in the capital.
In Hama, Russian warplanes intervened to halt a large-scale offensive targeting the government troops' positions near the city of Hama.
Latest reports indicated that the opposition gunmen succeeded in taking over large swaths of land in the Hama battles. (end) tk.rk