DAMASCUS, Feb 11: Gunmen assassinated an army general in Damascus on Saturday in the first killing of a high ranking military officer in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime began in March, the state-run news agency said.

The attack is a sign that violence in Syria is reaching the tightly controlled capital, which has been relatively quiet compared to other cities. Though there was no immediate claim of responsibility, the attack could indicate that dissident soldiers who have risen up in numerous cities and towns are trying to step up action in Damascus.

SANA news agency said three gunmen opened fire at Brig Gen Issa Al-Khouli in the morning as he left his home in the Damascus neighbourhood of Rukn-Eddine. Al-Khouli was a doctor and the chief of a military hospital in the capital.

Such assassinations are not uncommon outside Damascus and army officers have been killed in the past, mostly in the restive provinces of Homs and Idlib.

Violence in other parts of the country left at least 11 people dead as regime troops pushed into dissident-held neighbourhoods in the restive central city of Homs and shelled the mountain town of Zabadani, north of Damascus. The UN estimates that 5,400 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began in March. But that figure is from January, when the UN stopped counting because the chaos in the country has made it all but impossible to check the figures. Hundreds are reported to have been killed since.

The Assad regime says terrorists acting out a foreign conspiracy to destabilise the country are behind the uprising, not people seeking to transform the authoritarian regime. The Syrian government says more than 2,000 soldiers and police officers have been killed by “terrorists” since March.

Syria’s turmoil began with peaceful protests against Assad’s rule, sparking the fierce regime crackdown. But it has since grown more militarised as army defectors and armed protesters formed a group known as the ‘Free Syrian Army’.

The FSA has carried out attacks on the military and sought to secure control of opposition-dominated areas, as well as defend against regime assault.

After Russia and China last weekend vetoed a western and Arab attempt at the UN to pressure Assad to step down, the FSA’s commander said there was no choice now but armed force to oust the president.

Western and Arab countries are considering forming a coalition to help Syria’s opposition.—AP