New fighting was reported in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Monday, a day after the government denied that it had used heavy weapons to attack a small farming community, where United Nations monitors documented substantial destruction in an assault that left scores dead and drew sharp international condemnation.

At the same time, Syria’s international isolation seemed to deepen as Morocco and Syria declared each other’s ambassadors persona non grata, diplomatic language for expulsions, according to their official news agencies. Syria said it acted in response to a Moroccan decision to expel the Syrian ambassador. …

With continual fighting across Syria, replacing what had been separate pockets that flared repeatedly, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced in Geneva on Sunday that the conflict could now be classified as a civil war.