AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian tanks shelled a large neighborhood in the city of Hama on Thursday following clashes between Free Syrian Army rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, opposition sources said.
The shelling destroyed houses and left an unknown number of casualties in the Arbaeen neighborhood in the northeast of the city, which has been at the forefront of the year-long popular revolt against Assad, they said.
Opposition sources added at least 20 people have been killed in an army bombardment on the city and its countryside in the last two days.
"At least 70 ... tanks took positions around Hama a week ago, reinforcing armor already in the city. The shelling has been concentrating on the residential districts of Mashaa, Hamidiya and Arbeen," an opposition activist from Hama said.
A woman who fled the central Hamidiya district to just outside the city said the shelling killed 17 people in the district on Wednesday, including three women and four children.
The Syrian army stormed Hama with tanks in August to put down large demonstrations demanding Assad's removal from power. The city was the scene of an army massacre that killed up to 30,000 people in 1982 - the bloodiest event in Syrian modern history.
Reports from Syria cannot be verified independently because officials have barred access to rights groups and journalists.
(Editing by Maria Golovnina)
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