At Least Seven Killed as Rockets Rain Down on Damascus

Dozens of rockets launched against Syria’s Damascus by Islamist fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

MOSCOW, January 25 (Sputnik) — Seven people have been killed as dozens of rockets were launched against Syria’s capital Damascus by Islamist fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday.

According to the monitoring group, five civilians and two soldiers have been killed and at least 45 people have sustained injuries in a rocket attack carried out against Damascus by the Jaysh al-Islam (Brigade of Islam), a rebel group comprising a number of Syrian militias.

The attacks come two days after Jaysh al-Islam leader Zahran Alloush warned on Twitter that a “rocket campaign” would be carried out in the Syrian capital in response to last week’s attack on the militant-controlled Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

Syrian government-led forces have been battling numerous insurgent groups since 2011, when anti-government protests turned into an armed rebellion.