Intense fighting continues in a north-east, south-west arc through the Damascus suburbs where rebels are pushing towards the centre of the Syrian capital.
Government air power has again been deployed to strike the rebels from the air, in Damascus as well as Homs, Aleppo, Idlib, and Deir al-Zor.
There had been fears the army was about to launch a major offensive as all internet connections went down in Syria on Thursday, but these have now been restored in Damascus and Homs.
In Deir al-Zor angry residents showed the remains of what they say were cluster bombs dropped on their homes, and affirmed they had been under aerial and tank assault for days.
In Aleppo a mosque was razed to the ground and rebels are making incremental gains every day, but the destruction will cost the nation 60 billion dollars to rebuild says the opposition, with no end in sight.
