BEIRUT - Six people were reported dead on Sunday when a rocket hit near an international trade fair in Syria's capital Damascus being held for the first time in five years.

The Damascus International Fair was once the leading event on Syria's economic calendar but had not been held since shortly after the outbreak of the country's war in March 2011. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said six people, including two women, were killed and around a dozen more wounded in the rocket fire near the entrance to the fair.

A rescuer speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity confirmed the toll. A source at a hospital in Jaramana, an area southwest of the capital, told AFP he had seen dead and injured being evacuated from the scene. There was no confirmation of the toll from officials. But state television briefly carried a breaking news alert reporting the rocket fire and saying it had caused injuries, citing its reporters at the scene. </s> Image copyright EPA Image caption Dancers performed at the opening of the trade fair on Thursday

A rocket has struck close to the entrance of a trade fair in the Syrian capital, Damascus, Syrian media say.

The Damascus International Fair is being held for the first time since the Syrian conflict broke out in 2011.

Syrian TV said the rocket had caused casualties. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said five people had died.

The fair, which has another 10 days to run, had been a key business event before the Syrian conflict broke out.

Its general director, Fares al-Kartally, told AFP news agency earlier in the week that holding the fair, which opened on Thursday, reflected "the return of calm and stability in most regions" and would "signal the start of [the country's] reconstruction".

State television reported the attack without giving specific casualties.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said about a dozen people had been injured in addition to the five dead.

Damascus has been spared the worst of the conflict, which recent de-escalation zones have eased further, but has suffered missile attacks from rebels.

Syria's war has left more than 330,000 people dead and has displaced millions more. </s> Sputnik reports that terrorists have struck the Damascus International Fair which has welcomed visitors form around the world.

Four are reported dead as a result of the tragic rocket attack.

According to early reports, the shelling came from Eastern Ghouta which is still partly controlled by terrorists. The attack violates the present ceasefire in Eastern Ghouta.

This year saw the historic trade fair, the first in the Middle East open after five years of absence due to the war against terrorism. </s> (UPDATED) The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 6 people were killed and around a dozen wounded

DAMASCUS, Syria (UPDATED) – Six people were reported dead on Sunday, August 20, when a rocket hit near an international trade fair in Syria's capital Damascus being held for the first time in 5 years.

The Damascus International Fair was once the leading event on Syria's economic calendar but had not been held since shortly after the outbreak of the country's war in March 2011.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said 6 people, including two women, were killed and around a dozen wounded in the rocket fire near the entrance to the fair.

A rescuer speaking to Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity confirmed the toll.

A source at a hospital in Jaramana, an area southwest of the capital, told Agence France-Presse he had seen dead and injured being evacuated from the scene.

There was no confirmation of the toll from officials.

However, state television briefly carried a breaking news alert reporting the rocket fire and saying it had caused injuries, citing its reporters at the scene.

The alert was removed shortly afterwards, and a reporter broadcasting live from the fair interviewed several officials who made no mention of the rocket fire or casualties.

"We were preparing to receive visitors when I heard an explosion... then I saw smoke to the side of the entrance to the exhibition hall," 39-year-old Iyad al-Jabiri, a Syrian working at a textile stand at the fair, told Agence France-Presse.

The fair opened on Thursday, August 17, at the capital's Exhibition City and is scheduled to last 10 days.

It was touted as a sign that work towards rebuilding Syria and revitalizing its ravaged economy was getting under way, despite the violence that continues in parts of the country.

Its general director, Fares al-Kartally, said the decision to hold it this year was a result of "the return of calm and stability in most regions" of Syria.

"We want this fair to signal the start of [the country's] reconstruction," Kartally told Agence France-Presse earlier this week.

While Damascus has been insulated from much of the worst violence of the country's war, several key rebel enclaves remain in the Eastern Ghouta region outside the city.

Fighters in the area have regularly fired rockets into the capital, and government warplanes have frequently carried out devastating raids across Eastern Ghouta.

In recent weeks, much of the area has been quieter after the implementation in July of a "deescalation zone" covering parts of Eastern Ghouta.

The trade fair dates back to 1954 but was last held in the summer of 2011, months after the eruption of protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Since then, the country has spiraled into a bloody civil war that has killed more than 330,000 people, displaced millions, and devastated the economy.

The fair is hosting firms from 23 countries that have maintained diplomatic relations with Damascus throughout the conflict.

The United States and European countries, which maintain economic sanctions on the Assad regime, were not officially invited, although a handful of Western companies are attending on an individual basis.

Syria's government has seized large parts of the country from rebels and jihadists in recent months and talk has begun to turn to reconstruction and even the reestablishment of ties with Western nations.

But Assad said Sunday that countries seeking to resume ties or reopen their embassies must end their support for Syria's rebels.

"We are not isolated like they think, it's their arrogance that pushes them to think in this manner," he said in a speech to members of Syria's diplomatic corps broadcast on state television.

"There will be neither security cooperation, nor the opening of embassies, nor a role for certain states that say they want to find a way out [of Syria's war], unless they explicitly cut their ties with terrorism," he added.

Meanwhile the Observatory on Sunday said that at least 18 civilians were killed the previous day in air strikes by the US-led coalition on a jihadist-held village in northeast Syria.

Three children were among the victims, said the Observatory, adding that 3 Islamic State group jihadists were also killed in the raids on Al-Jezaa in Hasakeh province. – Rappler.com </s> Six people reported killed in mortar attack at Damascus fair

Syrian soldiers walk at the Damascus International Fair in Damascus August 20, 2017. — Reuters picAMMAN, Aug 21 — At least six people were killed yesterday when a mortar bomb hit the entrance to a major trade fair being held in the Syrian capital, a war monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which tracks the conflict did not give further details of the incident which state media has not reported although social media was cited.

Rami Abdulrahman, the head of the Observatory, did not rule out other causes that may have caused the blast. The monitor said the number of casualties was expected to rise with some of the ten people who were injured in critical condition.

The Damascus International Fair being held in the southern outskirts of the capital was opened last week for the first time since the summer of 2011, only months after countrywide unrest erupted.

The exhibition is being attended by regional and foreign businessmen from over 45 countries and authorities have hailed it as a sign that the war-torn country was recovering from the conflict. — Reuters </s> At least four people were killed and 24 wounded on Wednesday in two rocket blasts in Damascus, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

According to SANA, one rocket destroyed a car parked in al-Maisat Square killing two people and wounding 11 others, while another rocket hit the upper floors of the Damascus Commercial Tower in the al-Marjah district, leaving two dead and 13 wounded, mostly women and children. </s> At least four were killed and four others injured in a militants' shelling at a Damascus international fair, a Syrian security forces source told RIA Novosti.The Damascus International Exhibition is taking place from August 17 to 26 in the country's capital was renewed after 6 years after its suspension amid the war in the country. There are official delegations and about 1,300 businessmen from Arab and other countries, the Syrian prime minister told Sputnik earlier.The local source told RIA Novosti that the shelling took place from Eastern Ghouta on Damascus' outskirts controlled by anti-government armed militant groups."Four people were killed and four others injured when rocket-propelled projectiles fell at the Damascus International Fair," the source said.The shelling comes amid a ceasefire in Syria </s> Thirty-five people were killed Tuesday in a rebel rocket barrage on the Damascus suburb of Yaramana, Syrian official news agency SANA said, citing the director of the capital's main hospital.

Police sources, however, told SANA that 29 people were killed and 23 others wounded.

The rockets were launched by "terrorist organizations" in eastern Ghouta, an opposition-controlled area outside Damascus, SANA said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) put the number of fatalities at 34, including 21 civilians, and suggested that the death toll could rise given the gravity of the injuries inflicted.

Rebel rocket attacks have claimed 178 lives in greater Damascus over the last four months.

The Syrian army is currently engaged in a major offensive against rebel forces in eastern Ghouta, where nearly 1,500 have died since February 18, according to figures from the SOHR. </s> A picture taken on August 10, 2017, shows people walking past the grounds of the Damascus International Fair

Rocket fire injured several people Sunday near the entrance to the Damascus International Fair, a key business gathering being held for the first time in five years, Syrian television said.

State television, citing its reporters on the scene, said the rocket hit near the entrance of the exhibition complex where the business fair opened this week.

The breaking news alert gave no details on the number of injured or the source of the rocket fire, and there was no immediate mention of the incident on state news agency SANA.

"We were preparing to receive visitors when I heard an explosion... then I saw smoke so the side of the of the entrance to the exhibition hall," said Iyad Jaber, 39, a Syrian working at a textile stand.

The Damascus International Fair was once the top event on Syria's economic calendar, but was last held in the summer of 2011, months after the start of a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's government.

This year's fair opened on Thursday, and was scheduled to last 10 days.

Its general director, Fares al-Kartally, said the decision to hold the fair this year was a result of "the return of calm and stability in most regions" of Syria.

"We want this fair to signal the start of (the country's) reconstruction," Kartally told AFP earlier this week.

While Damascus has been insulated from much of the worst violence of the country's war, several key rebel enclaves remain in the Eastern Ghouta region outside the city.

Fighters in the area have regularly fired rockets into the capital, and government warplanes have frequently carried out devastating raids across Eastern Ghouta.

But in recent weeks, much of the area has been quieter after the implementation in July of a "de-escalation zone" covering parts of Eastern Ghouta.

The United States and European countries, which have imposed sanctions on Assad's government, were not officially invited to participate in the fair, which was first held in 1954.

But a handful of European companies are participating on an individual basis in the event.

More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
A rocket hits and injures several people at the Damascus International Fair. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says five people have died.