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Rebel fighters in Syria say that they are aiming to seize Damascus airport, saying it is a "fair target," BBC reported. 

Rebel spokesmen say the airport is being used by the Syrian military and that it should be avoided by civilians.

There has been fierce fighting in recent weeks in the countryside around Damascus, known as the Ghouta.

The city's international airport has been inaccessible or closed to civilian flights repeatedly over the past two weeks.

As clashes continued there, a spokesman for the rebel Damascus Military Council, Nabil al-Amir, warned civilians that they approached it at "their own risk."

"The rebel brigades who have been putting the airport under siege decided yesterday that the airport is a fair target," he told the Reuters news agency. "The airport is now full of armoured vehicles and soldiers."

The Syrian army has reinforced positions outside two south-western suburbs of Damascus, activists have said, raising fears of a ground attack.

Throughout the day the Syrian army has been shelling the suburb of Darayya, the centre of which is controlled by armed rebels, the BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen reports from Damascus.

Rockets and shells have been fired at Darayya and the suburb of Muadhamiya, which are not far from Mezzeh military airport.

Rebels have sought to advance on central districts of the capital, while government forces have launched an operation to reclaim territory.

As part of a flurry of diplomatic activity, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has visited a refugee camp in southern Turkey and travelled to Ankara to meet Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mr Ban praised the humanitarian work being carried out to care for the estimated 200,000 Syrians who are being housed in Turkey.

He also said he was not aware of any confirmed reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was preparing to use chemical weapons against the rebels, but warned that if he did so it would be "an outrageous crime in the name of humanity."