Syria's capital of Damascus witnessed what has been described as some of the "fiercest fighting in months," according to Agence France Presse Tuesday.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Tuesday that regime forces launched a massive aerial offensive on the neighborhood of Jobar, leaving at least 18 people wounded.
"Starting dawn Tuesday, Jobar saw the fiercest fighting in months, coupled with intense aerial bombardment," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
Regime forces launched at least nine strikes on Jobar, while troops on the ground continued fighting. Regime forces also allegedly "deployed tanks..and shelled rebel areas of Jobar," according to the Observatory.
Jobar is located next to the strategic rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area on the outskirts of the capital.
The Observatory further reported that regime forces launched air strikes on rebel-held areas of Irbin and Hammuriyeh Tuesday, leaving a man and a child dead.
Rebel fighters also fired mortars at regime-controlled areas of Damascus Tuesday, according to Syria's state news agency SANA.
Fighting in and around the capital has intensified in recent month, according to AFP, as the regime tries to reclaim control of rebel-held positions, particularly near the Eastern Ghouta region.
More than 170,000 people have been killed from Syria's ongoing conflict, and millions more have been displaced from their homes.
