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Syrians in regime-held areas voted yesterday in a controversial presidential election in which Bashar al-Assad is looking to boost his grip but which the opposition has slammed as a "farce".
Assad is facing two little-known challengers and is expected to win, despite a massive rebellion and a three-year war which the UN has warned is likely to drag on even longer as a result of the vote.

In Damascus, the atmosphere was surreal, with people voting as the sound of shelling and explosions punctuated pro-Assad songs playing in the streets.
Activists in flashpoint areas said the violence raged, with rebels raining mortars on parts of the capital firmly under government control and the air force striking opposition areas.
Assad and his British-born wife Asma cast their ballots in central Damascus.
Billboards glorifying Assad cover the streets of Damascus although inside polling stations photographs of his two challengers - Hassan al-Nuri and Maher al-Hajjar - had been put up alongside the president's.

There was no voting in the roughly 60 per cent of the country outside government control, including large areas of second city Aleppo. Polling was held in the heart of third city Homs, in ruins after rebel forces pulled out last month following a devastating two-year siege.
At least 162,000 people have been killed in Syria since an uprising against Assad's rule erupted in March 2011, and nearly half the population have fled their homes.
None of the voters questioned said they had voted for Assad's opponents. Nadia Hazim said she would "vote for the president - of course".
Hind al-Homsi, 46, said she had sliced a small cut in her finger and left a bloody fingerprint on the circle underneath Assad's name. "I want to vote in blood for the president. He is the best," she said.
After casting his vote in a Damascus hotel, nominal challenger Nuri said: "I think today's Syria is the new Syria, the victorious."

In the central city of Homs, security forces deployed in strength a day after a truck bomb killed 10 people in the nearby countryside.
The interior ministry said more than 15 million Syrians were eligible to take part in the poll, on top of the 200,000 who voted abroad last week.
Assad allies Iran, North Korea and Russia sent observers to monitor the election, but the opposition and Nato have both dubbed it a "farce".
The vote "does not fulfil international standards for free, fair and transparent elections and I am sure no [Nato] ally will recognise the outcome of these socalled elections", Nato head Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
There was not let-up in the army's attacks on rebel-held areas, with air strikes pounding the towns of Daraya southwest of Damascus and Douma to its northeast, and fighting flaring east of the capital, activists said.
The United Nations says the poll will only complicate efforts to relaunch peace talks after two rounds of abortive negotiations.
The exiled opposition has made Assad's departure from power a precondition for any negotiated settlement and his re-election for a new seven-year term is likely to scupper any hope of getting them back to the negotiating table any time soon.
"Dictators are not elected, they hold power by force and fear - the only motivations that Syrians have to show up for this charade," opposition chief Ahmed Jarba wrote in the Washington Post.



Assad certain of crushing win in Syria's controversial presidential vote 

Bashar Al-Assad and his British-born wife Asma cast their ballots in Damascus as rebel mortars fall on the capital. Photo: EPA

A Syrian man, wearing a shirt bearing President Bashar al-Assad's portrait, casts his ballot in presidential election on Tuesday at the Bassel al-Assad school polling station in central Damascus. Photo: AFP

Syrian children hold posters of president and candidate Bashar al-Assad during a rally on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

Protestors opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carry a banner during a demonstration at Kafr Nabil town in Idlib province, northern Syria last week. Photo: AP

China and Russia veto draft UN Security Council resolution on Syria

Human Rights Watch says evidence 'strongly suggests’ Syria regime used chlorine gas

A woman affected by what activists say was a gas attack on Telmans arrives for treatment at Bab al-Hawa hospital, near the Turkish border on April 21. Photo: Reuters

A UN investigator takes samples near a missile thought likely to carry chemicals, according to activists. Photo: AP

Syria army using starvation as ‘weapon of war’, say Amnesty 

Residents of Syria's besieged Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp, south of Damascus, collect aid during a relief operation led by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA. Photo: AFP

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World

Surreal scenes as Syrians in regime-held areas vote as shells rain down


Syrians in regime-held areas voted in a controversial presidential election in which Bashar al-Assad is looking to boost his grip but which the opposition has slammed as a "farce".


Assad certain of crushing win in Syria's controversial presidential vote

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Surreal scenes as Syrians in regime-held areas vote as shells rain down

Surreal scenes as Syrians in regime-held areas vote as shells rain down