World

Damascus Residents Fear Rebel Onslaught in Event of US Strikes

Rebels positioned at city's outskirts

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Edgy residents of the Syrian capital are grappling with a difficult question: What if a U.S. airstrike helps rebels poised on the city's outskirts to storm into the heart of Damascus?

The capital has been mostly insulated from the worst of the fighting, which has largely been concentrated in outlying suburbs and elsewhere in the country. But speculation is rampant that U.S. air attacks will try to break down government defenses and enable opposition forces to storm into the streets of the capital, President Bashar Assad's seat of power.