This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA shows Syrian rescue teams investigating the scene after an explosion in Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, March 18, 2012. An explosion ripped through a... (Associated Press) 
 
 Syrian security forces clashed Monday with gunmen in an upscale neighborhood of the capital Damascus that is home to embassies and senior officials in one of the worst confrontations in the tightly-controlled city center in the country's yearlong uprising. At least three people were killed. 
 
 The clash deep in Mazzeh district in west Damascus shows the shifting nature of the conflict in Syria, and suggests that rebels might be trying to offset government morale gains from recent successful offensives against opposition strongholds areas in the north and center of Syria by striking close to where senior regime members live. 
 
 Damascus has been largely free of the daily shootings and deaths reported across the country since the uprising against Assad began in March last year. But in addition to gunbattles in Mazzeh and in the suburbs, the capital has witnessed several major bomb attacks targeting security facilities, most recently on Saturday. The government blames "terrorists" for the bombings but the opposition says that the regime itself may be carrying them out to discredit the uprising. 
 
 Monday's fighting broke out when security forces stormed an apartment used as a hideout by an "armed terrorist" group in Mazzeh after evacuating the building of all inhabitants, the state-run news agency SANA said. 
 
 It added that the forces killed two of the gunmen and arrested the third while a member of the security forces also lost his life. SANA gave no further details. 
 
 A resident of the western Mazzeh district said automatic rifles and machineguns were used in the two-hour clash that ended at about 4 a.m. local time. "We also heard three strong explosions," said the man who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisal. 
 
 He added that the clash was close to the Swiss embassy and the home of Maj. Gen. Assef Shawkat, the deputy chief of staff for security affairs who is married to President Bashar Assad's sister, Bushra. 
 
 Armed rebels are active in Damascus' suburbs and satellite towns but rarely venture into the heart of the capital where Assad's troops are deployed in force. 
 
 The new fighting shows that rebels can still strike in the heart of the capital despite successful government offensive in the past weeks in the suburbs of Damascus, in the central city of Homs and the northern region of Idlib. 
 
 The U.N. says more than 8,000 people have been killed in the year-long uprising. 
 
 Syrian authorities claim the opposition is made up of "terrorist" groups carrying out a foreign conspiracy. 
 
 An activist in the capital said the Monday morning clashes occurred near the Political Security Directorate building. He said the clashes were followed with raids by security forces who were searching for the attackers. 
 
 The Local Coordination Committees activist group reported a heavy presence of security troops as well as pro-government gunmen known as shabiha in Mazzeh. It added that many police vehicles were patrolling the area. 
 
 The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists throughout Syria, said 18 of Assad's troops were wounded in the clashes. It described the clashes "as the most violent of its kind and closest to security centers in Damascus since the revolution began." 
 
 The rebel Free Syrian Army, which includes thousands of army defectors, have claimed responsibility in the past for attacks against regime forces. 
 
 The group's leader, Col. Riad al-Asaad, refused to comment on the fighting in Damascus when contacted by The Associated Press by telephone. "This is a sensitive military matter that we cannot comment about," he said from Turkey. 
 
 On Saturday, three suicide bombings in Damascus killed 27 people. Two of them also targeted government security buildings. 
 
 On Sunday, an explosion killed two and wounded 30 in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest. 
 
 The Observatory said troops shelled the central village of Qalaat al-Madiq in central Hama province heavily damaging two homes. It added that troops stormed the northern village of Ebdita and set about 60 homes on fire. 
 
 The group said gunmen opened fire at a car in the northern province of Idlib killing an army lieutenant colonel and wounding two other members of the military. 
 
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 Bassem Mroue can be reached on twitter at http://twitter.com/bmroue ||||| Russia joins Syria truce calls as fighting rages 
 
 DAMASCUS — Syria's ally Russia added its voice Monday to rising calls for a truce so aid can be sent to violence-hit cities after deadly clashes rocked a district of the capital near the heart of the embattled regime. 
 
 France, meanwhile, pressed the UN Security Council to adopt a statement backing international envoy Kofi Annan's mission to end bloodshed that has cost an estimated more than 9,100 lives in the past year. 
 
 President Bashar al-Assad's security forces launched attacks in several regions, opposition activists said. 
 
 Pre-dawn fighting in a heavily guarded area of Damascus, the capital's fiercest since the revolt against Assad's regime erupted, came as residents still reeled from deadly weekend bombings. 
 
 At least three rebels and a member of the security forces were killed in the upscale western neighbourhood of Mazzeh, state television and monitors said. 
 
 "Three terrorists were killed and a fourth was arrested in the fighting between security forces and an armed terrorist gang sheltered in a house of a residential district," the TV reported. 
 
 Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said four rebels were killed. 
 
 Mourtada Rasheed, an activist in Damascus, said blasts and heavy shooting could be heard in Mazzeh and two other districts -- Qaboon and Arbeen. 
 
 In Russia, International Committee of the Red Cross chief Jakob Kellenberger met Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country is an ally of Damascus and has some influence on the regime. 
 
 "The two parties call for the Syrian government and armed groups to immediately agree to a daily humanitarian truce to allow the ICRC access to the wounded and to civilians who need to be evacuated," the foreign ministry said. 
 
 Moscow "underscored the need to allow the ICRC access to all detained persons in Syria following the protests" against Assad's regime. 
 
 An ICRC spokeswoman said the Moscow meeting was part of Kellenberger's broader efforts to prompt world powers to secure commitments from the regime and rebels to lay down their arms for a few hours each day. 
 
 "The ICRC hopes to see concrete results of such meetings on the ground in the coming days and weeks," Victoria Zotikova told AFP. 
 
 Kellenberger expressed fears that much of Syria could soon be engulfed in the type of brutal violence recently seen in the flashpoint city of Homs, where hundreds died in more than a month of shelling and a subsequent army assault. 
 
 "This is absolutely unacceptable to us," he told ITAR-TASS. 
 
 Meanwhile, a mission sent by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan arrived in Damascus for talks on a monitoring operation to end the conflict. 
 
 "There are five people with expertise in political, peacekeeping and mediation," Annan spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told AFP. 
 
 "They will be staying for as long as they are making progress on reaching agreement on practical steps to implement Mr Annan's proposals," he added. 
 
 On Monday, France proposed a UN Security Council statement giving strong backing to Annan's efforts. 
 
 "The aim now is to find common ground and send a strong message to the Damascus regime," a diplomat in New York said, with French Ambassador Gerard Araud saying Paris hopes for a vote on Tuesday. 
 
 The Annan proposal includes a halt to the violence, humanitarian access, the release of detainees held over the past year and withdrawal of security forces from protest cities. 
 
 As a condition for ceasefire talks, the Damascus government insisted that the opposition had to lay down its arms, diplomats at the United Nations said. 
 
 At the same time, neighbouring countries had to guarantee they would not send weapons to Syrian groups or give political or financial support to the opposition, they told AFP on condition of anonymity. 
 
 Separately, technical experts from the UN and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are taking part in a Syrian government-led mission to assess the impact of the deadly crackdown. 
 
 The mission to 15 cities, on the first such assignment in Syria since the violence started, was launched in Homs on Sunday. 
 
 Monday's clashes in the capital came after twin car bombs ripped through two neighbourhoods of Damascus on Saturday, killing 27 people, according to an interior ministry toll. 
 
 An Observatory statement said fresh fighting erupted later on Monday between rebels and security forces in the Qaboon and Barzeh areas of Damascus. 
 
 Troops backed by dozens of tanks also raided districts of Deir Ezzor city in eastern Syria, the Observatory said, a day after at least 25 army deserters were killed in seizing its Hamidiyeh district. 
 
 Five soldiers, including two officers, were also killed, it said. 
 
 And troops bombarded the Bab Sbaa, Khalidiyeh and Karm al-Shami districts of Homs, the monitoring group said. 
 
 Troops in the northwestern province of Idlib attacked Abdita, home village of defector Colonel Riyadh Asaad, head of the Turkey-based rebel Free Syrian Army, local activist Nurredin al-Abdo told AFP. 
 
 Security forces killed at least nine civilians on Monday -- including a young girl -- in Idlib, Homs and the southern province of Daraa, while a captain who deserted was killed in the central town of Rastan, the Observatory said. 
 
 Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved. More » ||||| Heavy fighting has broken out between opposition fighters and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in a main district of Damascus that is home to several security installations, witnesses said. 
 
 The sound of heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades echoed throughout the night from the western neighbourhood of al-Mezzeh, one of the most heavily guarded areas of the capital, residents told the Reuters news agency by telephone on Monday. 
 
 Syrian state television said three "terrorists" and a member of Syria's security forces were killed in the fighting. 
 
 Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), earlier said that at least 18 security troops were wounded. 
 
 Lena, a member of the Revolutionary Leadership Council in Damascus, an opposition activist network, told Al Jazeera that residents in al-Mezzeh began hearing gunfire at about midnight. 
 
 "Some people came to al-Mezzeh and they are trying to attack residents. They are calling them names and taking them out of their houses ... people have left their homes. They are in the streets. The security forces are all around the place," she said. 
 
 Another witness who lives in the area said there was fighting near Hamada supermarket and the sound of explosions in nearby. "Security police have blocked several side streets and the street lighting has been cut off," she said. 
 
 Reporting from Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon, Al Jazeera's Rula Amin said: "Residents are telling us there was intense gunfire for hours. They could hear from loudspeakers the army and the security forces asking armed men to leave one of the buildings, Hamada supermarket. 
 
 "Al-Mezzeh is not geographically located in the heart of the capital but it's a very important neighbourhood. It is heavily guarded. There are a lot of high-ranking officials living in al-Mezzeh, in addition to the UN headquarters, embassies, and ambassadors," she said. 
 
 "This is taking place as the government claims they have control over the capital." 
 
 'Damascus documents' 
 
 The latest fighting comes as Al Jazeera gained access to confidential documents prepared for Assad by his intelligence chiefs that give details of the regime's plans to contain the uprising and protect government strongholds. 
 
 The documents, running into hundreds of pages, point to a government desperate to keep control of the capital Damascus and include clear orders to stop protesters from getting into the city. 
 
 Elsewhere on Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Russia's foreign minister voiced clear support for a plan for daily humanitarian ceasefires in Syria and promised Russia would press Assad's government to accept it. 
 
 Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "clearly agreed to and was supportive of" the idea of a daily two-hour cessation of hostilities to allow for life-saving aid operations, ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger told Reuters after talks with Lavrov in Moscow on Monday. 
 
 Asked whether Lavrov had promised that Russia would pressure Syria's government on the plan, Kellenberger said, "Yes, very much so". 
 
 The two sides issued no joint statement but ICRC officials said Kellenberger "received positive indications of support" from Lavrov. 
 
 The Red Cross has yet to receive permission from Syria to access all parts of the country affected by fighting. Moscow, an ally of Damascus, is seen as having a certain amount of influence on the Syrian leadership. 
 
 Attacks 
 
 This came a day after Syria's opposition reported heavy raids by security forces and fighting with rebels in northern and southern provinces and suburbs of Damascus on Sunday. 
 
 A car bomb close to a state security office in Syria's second biggest city of Aleppo killed at least three people on Sunday, according to the SOHR. 
 
 Syrian state TV said that the"terrorist" explosion took place between two residential buildings in the al-Suleimaniya district, behind a post office. 
 
 In Damascus, crowds gathered for memorials to the 27 victims of Saturday's car bombs, which had targeted a customs office and air force intelligence headquarters. 
 
 State television also blamed "terrorists" for those attacks, but opposition activists said they doubted armed groups trying to bring down Assad would have the capacity to carry out such operations against his security institutions in Damascus. 
 
 The United Nations estimates that more than 8,000 people have died so far in the violence following the revolt against four decades of rule by the Assad family. 
 
 Syrian authorities say they are fighting insurgents who have so far killed more than 2,000 members of the security forces.
– Machine guns and explosions were audible as violence overtook a high-security section of Damascus last night, killing at least three and wounding 18 Syrian troops. Locals began hearing gunfire at about midnight and say "intensive gunfire" continued for hours in the Mazzeh district of the Syrian capital, an upscale neighborhood home to several senior regime members. "People came to Mazzeh and they are trying to attack residents. They are calling them names and taking them out of their houses," an opposition activist tells al-Jazeera. "The clashes were the strongest and the closest to security installations in the capital since the outbreak of the revolt a year ago," a watchdog tells AFP. The fighting follows car bombs in Damascus and Syria's second-biggest city of Aleppo this weekend. Damascus hasn't faced the daily clashes reported in other Syrian cities, the AP notes. An activist said last night's violence was sparked by a Free Syrian Army hit-and-run effort, though state TV said it began with a security raid on an "armed terrorist" hideout. The clashes may have been a rebel attempt to damage security forces' morale after a series of effective attacks on the opposition, the AP suggests.