In this photo taken on Sunday, April 20, 2014 and released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, center, speaks with Syrian citizens during his visit to Ain al-Tineh village, near Damascus, Syria. Assad visited on Sunday a historic Christian village his forces recently captured from rebels, state media said, as the country's Greek Orthodox Patriarch vowed that Christians in the war-ravaged country "will not submit and yield" to extremists. The rebels, including fighters from the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, took Maaloula several times late last year. (AP Photo/SANA)
April 21, 2014 - 12:59 AM
DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria's state-run media say a pair of mortar shells hit near the parliament building in central Damascus, killing five people.
SANA news agency says the mortars struck some 320 feet (100 metres) from the parliament in the Salihiya area of the Syrian capital on Monday morning.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Syrian rebels often fire mortar shells into government-controlled areas of Damascus. They say they are punishing pro-government forces for besieging areas controlled by the opposition, denying residents food, clean water and medical aid, and for dropping crude bombs on residential areas.
Mortar shells cannot be precisely targeted and often kill civilians.
Syria's conflict is now in its fourth year. It has killed over 150,000 people and forced one-third of the country's population from their homes.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014