Anti-government gunmen attacked the headquarters of a Syrian TV channel in Ikhbariya, 15 miles south of the capital, Damascus. Three TV employees and four security guards were killed in the bombing and subsequent attack. Fighting was also reported on the outskirts of Damascus.

Just a day after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared that his forces were at war with armed insurgents backed by foreign terrorist groups, the violence illustrated the growing strength of the opposition. Fueled by regime-changing protests in Egypt and Libya, large numbers of Syrians have taken to the streets and to weapons supplies since March 2011 in order to convince Assad to join the ranks of former leaders.

So far, however, Assad has refused all offers to leave and instead has overseen a military response that human rights groups estimate has killed more than 10,000 civilians and the government has estimated has killed hundreds of soldiers.

Although the destroyed the newsroom and most of one entire building in the bombing, they did not take over the TV channel, which was back to broadcasting not long after the attack, showing pictures of bullet holes in the walls of the buildings still standing. Although the channel is privately owned, it is thought to be in favor of government policy.

The war of words continued on the Syria-Turkey front as well, with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan repeating his claim to respond militarily to any action along the countries' shared border, days after Syrian forces shot down a Turkish plane, killing two onboard. Turkey is also home to the leadership of the Free Syria Army and to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.

A United Nations report released this week blamed both pro-Syrian and anti-Syrian forces for numerous human rights violations.