Syrian warplanes hammered Damascus on Monday with loud explosions shaking the capital on the fourth day of a Muslim holiday marked by the failure of a ceasefire bid, a correspondent said.
The explosions, which appeared to come from several different districts, could be heard over about two hours and were among the most intense in the city since the beginning of the 19-month conflict.
The Syrian Revolution General Council, a network of opposition activists on the ground, said the air strikes were northeast of the capital in and around the suburb of Harasta, a rebel stronghold.
Clashes broke out in Harasta, as three civilians were killed in shelling and gunfire in the nearby town of Douma, another opposition bastion, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Overnight, troops pounded rebel positions in the outer southern district of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, as explosions were heard in the nearby Qadam neighbourhood, where clashes erupted, it said.
In the northern metropolis of Aleppo, where fighting has raged since mid-July, sporadic clashes took place overnight across the city, said the Observatory, which relies on a countrywide network of activists, lawyers and medics in civilian and military hospitals.