Mortar attack kills 4 near Syrian capital

A mortar attack by the foreign-backed militants in Syria has killed at least four people near the capital Damascus.

Syria’s state-run television reported that Tuesday’s shell hit a house in Mukailabieh town, which is located near Damascus.

It said the victims included two kids.

Also on Tuesday, a number of people were injured in mortar shelling on al-Fayha’a orchards in central Damascus.

The shellings were reported after the Syrian military forces thwarted an infiltration attempt by militants to enter the country through its border with the neighboring Lebanon.

Security sources said a number of terrorists were killed and injured in the fire exchange while the rest fled into the Lebanese territories.

In a separate incident, a unit of the Syrian Armed Forces confronted an terrorist group’s attack on a military checkpoint in a suburb of Homs, killing and injuring the assailants.

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

Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the insurgents are foreign nationals.

Several international human rights organizations have accused foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes.