The Assad regime has carried out new attacks northeast of Syria’s capital Damascus, while rebels claim they are still holding off the offensive by the regime’s army and its allies.

Wednesday’s regime shelling included strikes on Kafr Batna, where five civilians were reportedly killed and scores wounded.

A Civil Defense team is attacked while carrying out a rescue:

Meanwhile, the rebel faction Failaq al-Rahman claimed that it killed at least 10 troops of the regime army’s 4th Division in an ambush in nearby Ein Tarma, which the regime forces have been attacking for more than two months in an attack to finally break resistance.

The shelling and fighting continue to defy the proclamation by Russia, the major ally of the Assad regime, of a “de-escalation zone” in the East Ghouta area near the capital. The Russians have been vague about the boundaries of the zone — despite saying they would dispatch military police to man checkpoints on the periphery — and rebel factions have not accepted the agreement, despite Moscow’s PR to the contrary.

The pro-Assad forces have taken most of East Ghouta since spring 2016, forcing capitulation agreements with bombardments, sieges, and ground offensives in suburbs like Barzeh and Qaboun this spring. However, they have struggled to advance in Ein Tarma and nearby Jobar despite the sustained assault.

Earlier this week, scores of people were killed and wounded in Ein Tarma, where the regime also carried out chemical attacks in July, according to activists.

Yesterday in Kafr Batna:

KAFR BATNA 2 09-08-17

KAFR BATNE 3 09-08-17

SNHR: At Least 52 Attacks on Infrastructure and Facilities in July

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said Wednesday that attacks on infrastructure and facilities decreased in July amid Russia’s four de-escalation zones, but that there were still 52 during the month.

The SNHR said the Assad regime carried out the most attacks with 25. The US-led coalition moved into second with six, amid its support of the offensive by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on the Islamic State’s center of Raqqa in northern Syria. Russia and ISIS each were held responsible for four and rebels for two. Eleven attacks were unattributed to a specific party.

The report breaks down the vital civilian facilities that were attacked in the month of July – 17 vital educational facilities, 14 infrastructures, 12 places of worship, five communal facilities, three vital medical facilities, one vital cultural facility.