video transcript

Plumes of smoke and fireballs outside of Aleppo as an arms depot reportedly comes under attack by rebel forces. In Damascus amateur video which could not be independently verified by Reuters shows a skyline marked by smoke and fire. President Bashar al-Assad has lost control of large parts of Syria but his forces, backed by air power, have so far kept rebels away from central Damascus. The government is struggling to contain a revolt in which 60,000 people have been killed since March 2011. Assad's government announced that he is reshuffling parts of his cabinet to help address a deepening economic crisis. The civil war has ravaged infrastructure and halved the output of staple crops. In a town near Homs citizens scramble through bombed out streets trying to help each other. They struggle to hold on to what they can of the life they once had -- where there are few signs of a pathway to peace.