Syrian military launches offensive

Violence elsewhere in the country killed at least 17 more people, including six soldiers in a roadside bombing south of the capital.

But the heaviest fighting was focused in a belt of suburbs and villages on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, where government troops reinforced by dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles battled with armed defectors who have grown increasingly bold, staking out positions and setting up checkpoints in recent days.

Some of the fighting was only two miles from Damascus, in Ein Tarma, making it the closest yet to the capital as President Bashar Assad's regime pushes to uproot protesters and dissident soldiers who have joined the opposition.

The 10-month uprising against Assad, which began with largely peaceful demonstrations, has grown increasingly militarised recently as more frustrated protesters and army defectors have taken up arms against the regime.

The military has responded with a withering assault on a string of Damascus suburbs in a bid to stamp out the resistance, leading to a spike in violence that has killed nearly 100 people since Thursday.

The rising bloodshed has added urgency to new attempts by Arab and Western countries to find a resolution to the 10 months of violence, which according to the United Nations has killed at least 5,400 people as Assad seeks to crush persistent protests demanding an end to his rule.

The UN is holding talks on a new resolution on Syria and next week will discuss an Arab League peace plan aimed at ending the crisis. But the initiatives face two major obstacles - Damascus' rejection of an Arab plan that it says impinges on its sovereignty, and Russia's willingness to use its UN Security Council veto to protect Syria from sanctions.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told reporters in Egypt that contacts were under way with China and Russia. "I hope that their stand will be adjusted in line with the final drafting of the draft resolution," he told reporters before leaving for New York with Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim.

The two will seek UN support for the latest Arab plan to end Syria's crisis. The plan calls for a two-month transition to a unity government, with Assad giving his vice president full powers to work with the proposed government.