Regime forces launched a fierce assault on the rebel bastion of Rastan in central Syria on Wednesday, raining shells on the town before launching a ground attack, monitors and activists said. The rebel Free Syrian Army, meanwhile, denied it was behind the kidnapping of Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in the north, an incident adding to tensions in neighbouring Lebanon which is already divided between pro- and anti-Damascus camps. There was no immediate word on any casualties at Rastan but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven people were killed in other parts of the country. Soldiers were trying to storm Rastan under the cover of heavy gunfire, shelling and rocket bombardment, the Britain-based watchdog said, adding that at one stage shells smashed into the town at a rate of “one a minute.” An activist reached by Skype told AFP that Free Syrian Army fighters were defending Rastan’s entrances but that “regime forces are being strengthened with new deployments,” including from the elite Republican Guard. “Electricity has been cut off in Rastan, and water tanks have been shelled,” said activist Abu Rawan. “There is also a severe lack of food because the market is closed and we can’t bring food in from nearby villages.”
