BEIRUT – In dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, Syrian troops stormed rebellious areas near the capital Sunday, shelling neighborhoods that have fallen under the control of army dissidents and clashing with fighters. At least 62 people were killed in violence nationwide, activists and residents said.

The wide-scale offensive near the capital suggested that the regime is worried that military defectors could close in on Damascus, which has remained relatively quiet while most other Syrian cities descended into chaos after the uprising began in March.

The rising bloodshed added urgency to Arab and Western diplomatic efforts to end the 10-month conflict.

‘ILLUSIONS UNRAVEL’

The violence has gradually approached the capital. In the past two weeks, army dissidents have become more visible, seizing several suburbs on the eastern edge of Damascus and setting up checkpoints where masked men wearing military attire and wielding assault rifles stop motorists and protect anti-regime protests.

Their presence so close to the capital is astonishing in tightly controlled Syria and suggests the Assad regime may either be losing control or setting up a trap for the fighters before going on the offensive.

Residents of Damascus reported hearing clashes in the nearby suburbs, particularly at night.

“The current battles taking place in and around Damascus may not yet lead to the unraveling of the regime, but the illusion of normalcy that the Assads have sought hard to maintain in the capital since the beginning of the revolution has surely unraveled,” said Ammar Abdulhamid, a U.S.-based Syrian dissident.

“Once illusions unravel, reality soon follows,” he wrote in his blog Sunday.

Soldiers riding some 50 tanks and dozens of armored vehicles Sunday stormed a belt of suburbs and villages on the eastern outskirts of Damascus known as al-Ghouta, a predominantly Sunni Muslim agricultural area where large anti-regime protests have been held.

Some of Sunday’s fighting was less than three miles from Damascus, in Ein Tarma, making it the closest yet to the capital.

‘IT’S A REAL WAR’

“There are heavy clashes going on in all of the Damascus suburbs,” said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who relies on a network of activists on the ground. “Troops were able to enter some areas but are still facing stiff resistance in others.”

The fighting using mortars and machine guns sent entire families fleeing to the capital.

“The shelling and bullets have not stopped since yesterday,” said a man who left Ein Tarma with his family Sunday.

“It’s terrifying, there’s no electricity or water, it’s a real war,” he said.

The uprising against Assad, which began with largely peaceful demonstrations, has grown increasingly militarized as more frustrated protesters and army defectors have taken up arms.

In a bid to stamp out resistance in the capital’s outskirts, the military has responded with a withering assault on a string of suburbs, leading to a spike in violence that has killed at least 150 people since Thursday.

The United Nations says at least 5,400 people have been killed in the 10 months of violence.

ARAB LEAGUE PEACE PLAN

The U.N. is holding talks on a new resolution on Syria and plans to discuss an Arab League peace plan aimed at ending the crisis. But the initiatives face two major obstacles: Damascus’ rejection of an Arab plan that it says impinges on its sovereignty, and Russia’s willingness to use its U.N. Security Council veto to protect Syria from sanctions.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said Sunday in Egypt that contacts were under way with China and Russia.

“I hope that their stand will be adjusted in line with the final drafting of the draft resolution,” he told reporters before leaving for New York with Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim.

The two will seek U.N. support for the latest Arab plan to end Syria’s crisis. It calls for a two-month transition to a unity government, with Assad giving his vice president powers to work with the proposed government.

Because of the escalating violence, the Arab League on Saturday halted the work of its observer mission in Syria at least until the League’s council can meet.