The leader of Syria's National Coalition is urging world powers to arm the rebels with weapons. Source: AAP
SYRIAN army tanks have shelled a refugee camp and two nearby districts in southern Damascus as battles raged and warplanes bombarded a rebel-held northwestern town, a watchdog says, as the US promised an extra $US30 million in humanitarian aid for those affected by the conflict.
The tanks were deployed at the Palestinian camp of Yarmuk overnight, as well as the nearby districts of Tadamun and Assali, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Both Yarmuk and Tadamun were scene of battles between the army and rebels late on Tuesday, said the Britain-based Observatory.
On Wednesday morning, shells were fired into a second refugee camp east of Yarmuk, said the monitoring group, though it did not specify if they had been fired by the army or by rebels.
Fighting in Damascus has intensified in recent weeks, after the army put down a mid-summer rebel assault on districts particularly in the southern belt where anti-regime sentiment is strong.
The violence is linked to major, ongoing battles in several parts of Damascus province, chiefly in the area known as Eastern Ghuta east of the capital.
Elsewhere, fighter jets bombarded a rebel-held town in the northwestern province of Idlib, the watchdog said.
"The air force has carried out two air strikes on the town of Maaret al-Numan," said the Observatory.
Rebels seized Maaret al-Numan on October 9, and the army has since waged an unrelenting but unsuccessful offensive to take back the town strategically located on the highway linking Damascus and second city Aleppo.
The Observatory - which relies activists, doctors and lawyers for its information - says more than 37,000 people have been killed in Syria since the anti-regime revolt broke out in March 2011.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday announced $US30 million ($A28.89 million) in extra humanitarian aid to those affected by the conflict in Syria, as she welcomed its new opposition coalition.
Clinton, in Australia for annual security and defence talks, said the formation of a new Syrian opposition coalition was "a good beginning".
"We agreed today that the formation of the new Syrian opposition coalition is an important step forward and will help the international community better target our assistance where it is needed most," she said in Perth.
"Today I'm pleased to announce that the US is providing an additional $US30 million in humanitarian assistance to help get much-needed food to hungry people inside Syria and to refugees who have fled to Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq."
Clinton said she welcomed the progress made to broaden and unify the opposition leadership under the National Coalition.
"We have long called for this kind of organisation," she said, but added that Washington now wanted to see that momentum maintained.
"Specifically we urge them to finalise the organisational arrangements to support the commitments that they made in Doha and to begin influencing events on the ground in Syria," she said.
"As the Syrian opposition takes these steps, and demonstrates its effectiveness in advancing the case of a unified, democratic, pluralistic Syria, we will be prepared to work with them to deliver assistance to the Syrian people.
"We want to see the steps taken that have been promised and we stand ready to assist this new opposition in standing itself up and representing the Syrian people to the regime and the international community."
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