Syria troops fight rebels near major Shiite shrine

Middle Eastern News Photos

FILE - In this Thursday, June 14, 2012 file photo, Syrian security forces at the site where a car bomb exploded near the shrine of Sayyida Zeinab, background, in a suburb of Damascus, Syria. Hezbollah fighters join Syrian forces in battling rebels in a Damascus suburb that is home to a revered Shiite Muslim shrine, in a push to secure the area around the golden domed mosque. Protection of the Sayida Zeinab shrine has become a rallying cry for Shiite fighters backing President Bashar Assad, raising the stakes in a conflict that is increasingly being fought along sectarian lines. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)

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Syria troops fig... FILE - In this Thursday, June 14, 2012 file photo, Syrian security forces at the site where a car bomb exploded near the shrine of Sayyida Zeinab, background, in a suburb of Damascus, Syria. Hezbollah fighters join Syrian forces in battling rebels in a Damascus suburb that is home to a revered Shiite Muslim shrine, in a push to secure the area around the golden domed mosque. Protection of the Sayida Zeinab shrine has become a rallying cry for Shiite fighters backing President Bashar Assad, raising the stakes in a conflict that is increasingly being fought along sectarian lines. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)
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