Watu 310 wauawa Syria kwa siku moja!

Syrian activists say 310 people were killed across the country on Thursday in what was the single deadliest day of fighting since the beginning of the revolt against President Bashar Assad's regime.

Burnt-out lorries following a fierce battle between Syrian rebel fighters and Syrian troops in Bab al-Hawa 

The fighting continued early on Friday, with at least three people were killed when Syrian army helicopters fired rockets at the southeastern Damascus neighbourhood of Saida Zeinab, opposition activists said. 

"One rocket hit a three story building. I got through to my relatives in Saida Zainab and could hear the sound of the bombardment on the phone," Reem, one of the activists, told Reuters by telephone from Damascus. 

The civil war escalated dramatically in the past week as rebels closed in on the capital Damascus and launched their most serious blow yet on Assad's inner circle, killing three top aides in an assassination.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that at least 93 of those killed on Thursday were government troops.

The Local Coordination Committees, which documents civilian deaths, said 217 civilians were killed. 

Death tolls are difficult to verify in tightly controlled Syria which places severe restrictions on journalists. 

Early on Friday Syrian TV said troops recovered control of the rebellious neighborhood Midan in the capital. 

"Our brave army forces have completely cleaned the area of Midan in Damascus of the remaining mercenary terrorists and have reestablished security," the broadcaster said. 

Damascus activist Khaled al-Shami, contacted by the Associated Press via the Internet, said rebels carried out a "tactical" retreat early Friday to spare civilians further shelling after five days of intense clashes between opposition fighters and regime forces. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights however said that fighting was still continuing. 

The attack came after a night of fighting in several other districts across the capital, the Observatory said. 

Telegraph