Militants mortar attack kills three, injures five in Damascus

The violence occurred on Saturday when the mortar shell fired by foreign-backed militants hit a club in Damascus.

In a separate attack in the capital, armed men fired an RPG at civilians entering the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp, leaving a number of refugees injured.

In the northern city of Aleppo, army forces killed several militants, including a commander of the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group al-Nusra Front, and demolished a militant hideout.

The Syrian Army said it also arrested several terrorists behind civilian killings in the fourth largest city of Hama. The militants have reportedly confessed to killing security personnel as well as raping and kidnapping women in Homs and Hama.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the turmoil.

Damascus has repeatedly said that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and that a very large number of the militants operating in the country are foreign nationals.

According to a UN report, militants from 29 countries - most of whom are extremist Salafists - have filtered into Syria to fight against President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

MRS/MA