Fear enters Damascus as conflict nears

Hafiza, like most people in and around the Syrian capital, lives in fear that security forces will raid her home and arrest her sons.

The deadly uprising that has gripped Syria for over a year has largely spared Damascus but in past weeks the bloodshed has also made its entry into Damascus.

"Damascus, here we come" was the rallying cry on Friday for anti-regime demonstrations across the country on the day of weekly Muslim prayers, as posted by activists on their Facebook page, The Syrian Revolution 2011.

"My nerves are shattered. Every day people say the security forces are coming to carry out a raid," said Hafiza, a cleaner who lives just outside Damascus.

Last Sunday, security forces and troops stormed the district of Artuz, southwest of Damascus, Hafiza said.

"There were tanks and artillery. A tank was posted on every street. They arrested 600 men, even 14-year-olds," she said, voicing fear they would come one day for her own sons, aged 18 and 23.

Ammar, a writer who lives in the Barzeh area of northern Damascus, is also terrified by the unrest that has reached the city.

"Nowadays as soon as it gets dark I head home. My wife and I watch films every night to shut out the violence," he said. "But at midnight, gunfire breaks out and there are explosions until dawn."

He said protesters fill the streets of the old part of Barzeh every night to demonstrate against the regime.

A year after the start of a popular uprising against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, fear is everywhere in Damascus. Deadly car bombings have rocked the capital and clashes are on the rise.

Each day pro-democracy activists report anti-regime protests in the centre of Damascus, where demonstrators take to the streets despite the deployment of hundreds of security forces.

YouTube videos show youths chanting anti-regime slogans in districts like Midan, Kfar Soussa, Barzeh, Bab Srijeh, Mazzeh, Doummar and Qdsaya, and calling for the arming of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA).

For the first time, several hours of deadly clashes erupted last Monday in the upscale and heavily guarded neighbourhood of Mazzeh, barely one kilometre (less than a mile) from the presidential palace.

Officials said three army deserters were killed in the fighting, while 18 soldiers were wounded.

The rebels appear determined to bring the conflict to the capital.

On Thursday, an FSA spokesman said the group had set up a military council to coordinate hit-and-run strikes around Damascus.

"I, Colonel Khaled Mohammed al-Hammud, announce the creation of the military council for Damascus and the region that will be in charge of FSA operations in this area," the officer who deserted from the army said in an online video.

He invited other "noble officers still in the ranks of Bashar's army" to join the rebel force.

Some like Hussam, a merchant who sells curtains, fear that Damascus will be the scene of "the final battle" between the regime and the armed opposition.

Hussam was badly shaken last week when two killer blasts ripped through Damascus killing at least 27 people, wounding dozens and causing massive damage to residential buildings and cars.

"I can still hear the sound of the blast," said Hussam.

He had just driven his children to school in the Qasaa neighbourhood last Saturday when the explosions hit, lifting his car and slamming it down three metres (10 feet) away.

"It was really frightening," said Hussam.

His brother, who lives in the upmarket neighbourhood of Abu Rummaneh, said the security forces have set up "several road blocks around government buildings."

"I have never seen anything like it.

"Restaurants and shops are not busy like they were a few months ago. People stay home at night," he said.

Syrian authorities say they are battling "armed terrorist gangs" -- not opposition activists -- to restore order in the country.

According to monitors, more than 9,000 people have been killed in the regime's brutal crackdown on dissent since March 2011.

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