Mortar attack kills 12 in Damascus university

Twelve Syrian students were killed on Thursday when rebel mortar bombs landed on the canteen of Damascus University's College of Architecture, two pro-government television channels said.

Al-Ikhbariya showed images of doctors pumping the chests of at least two young men and blood splattered on the floor of what appeared to be an outdoor canteen. One young women was shown walking in a hospital and bleeding heavily from her face.

The college is in Baramkeh, a central Damascus suburb where mortar attacks by rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad have intensified this week.

The university is surrounded by government buildings, including the Ministry of Defence, the headquarters for state media and the president's official residence.

Once a bastion for Assad's forces, the capital has become a focal point of the two-year-old uprising against four decades of family rule that has developed into civil war in which more than 70,000 people have been killed.

Rebels have formed a semi-circle around the capital and are trying to gain control of strategic areas to help them break into the centre of Damascus.