. >> large explosion struck close to a government military compound in damascus, and nick paton walshining us from beirut. tell us about the explosion and who is claiming responsibility? >> well, the free syrian army, the rebel movement claimed responsibility saying they were targeting a meeting of officials in a government building near a key building targeted for the morning meeting. this blast appears to have shaken the hotel where they are staying, and no u.s. staff held. they are making it cloo er ter the u.n. was not the target, and three people were injured as a result as reported by the state media. but getting a device like that so close to the inner sanctum of the syrian regime reminding people of the attack a month ago killing four senior officials, suzanne. >> we know that the emergency relief coordinator is there in damascus, and what is that visit about? what is the assessment about? >> well, she is there to gather assessments of the deteriorating situation, humanitarian situation on the ground. now, she is treated recently and tried to get to duma, a city in the suburbs

our nick paton walsh finds himself in the middle of one of the fights. >> this is what it is like toe with the syrian rebels around aleppo and hunted from above by merciless government jets. that fly-by followed with relief they survived and one commander's anger they must fight alone. maybe the out outside world pities us he said, but until now, we don't have any help. we need a no-fly weapons and then just a battalion of us can finish this. even though they say 2/3 of aleppo supports them, they go into a journey that president bashar al assad knows he must hold if he is to succeed. they are young and cheered along and they have the will, but not the unified way ahead. the rebels we are traveling with have decided to go to the next town ahead and they are not going to fire upon them, so that is how patchy the communication can be. we drive down a main road that the locals tell them is safe in pitch black in case jets fly above. but ahead, assad's forces lie in wait with machine guns and grenades. [ whispering ] we are going into aleppo, and now everyone is staying very low and keepi

our nick paton walsh is following the story. he joins us by phone.strike that hotel or was this unintentional? >> reporter: according to the syrian rebels, no, not at all. the u.n. were not their target and u.n. says actually their staff was safe. one said the blast went very close to the window of the room where she normally stays, but nobody harmed. they declared the u.n.s with not their target. they aimed the blast at a defense ministry building in that particular area. of course, blast in a secure place like that right in the heart of the regime's hotbed in the capital city is going to make many people in the regime less comfortable. it's going to evoke memories from a month ago which killed very senior officials. so, again, today the syrian rebel movement making their presence felt inside the capital which they have to main gain full control over to retain some functional grip on the country as a whole and i certainly we'll be seeing reports from the syrian observatory for human rights as the day has progressed in further clashes around the neig

our nick paton walsh, he met her in may. >> reporter: she only plays with a girl doll and hates the male one. that along with a terrible shiner is the trace of her past. married at age 13, she was drugged by her mother-in-law and then raped by her adult husband. they locked her in the basement and burned her with a hot poker and pulled out the nails. >> translator: they told me to go to the basement because there were guests coming to the house, but when i went there, they tied my hands and feet and pulled me upwards from above. they brought very little food for me, and while going to the bathroom, they used to beat me a lot. i was crying all of this time. when they put electric shocks on my feet, i felt like i was going the die at that moment. i screamed and that is how the neighbors realized that there is something happening. for one day and night, i was unconscious, and feeling dead. >> reporter: the neighbors alerted the authorities who found her like this in december after five months of torture. she is safe in a shelter now, and she trembled when she saw three of the five in-laws,