syrian rebels launch second damascus attack in three days
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Syrian rebels launch second Damascus attack in three days

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Syrian rebels launch second Damascus attack in three days

http://www.arabstoday.net/en/home-335/russian-navy-visits-philippines-as-duterte-tightens-ties-with-us-foes-011813
Amman/Beirut - Arab today

Syrian rebels stormed a government-held area in northeastern Damascus on Tuesday for the second time in three days, sources on both sides said, the opposition's first such large scale foray in over four years inside the capital.

For rebels, the assault has shown they are still able to wage offensive action, though their situation remains very difficult near Damascus and across the country as a whole. 

President Bashar Al Assad and the Syrian army, along with allied Russian, militia forces, have gained the upper hand in the war for western Syria over the past 18 months, culminating in the full recapture of Aleppo in December.

The spokesman for one of the main insurgent groups involved in the attack told Reuters the new offensive began at 5.00 am, targeting an area rebel fighters had seized from government control on Sunday before being forced to retreat.

A Syrian military source told Reuters rebel fighters had entered the area, setting off a car bomb at the start of the attack. The source said a group of rebels that had entered the area had been encircled and were "being dealt with".

The rebel groups have launched the assault from their Eastern Ghouta stronghold to the east of the capital.

Government forces have escalated military operations against Eastern Ghouta in recent weeks, seeking to tighten a siege on the area. The rebel assault aims partly to relieve that pressure.

The fighting has focused around the Abassiyin area of the northeastern Jobar district, some 2 km east of the Old City walls, at a major road junction leading into the capital.

A witness in the Tijara residential area near the fighting said dozens of tanks were deployed - an unusual scene for residents of inner Damascus, whose quarters been spared the widespread fighting on the fringes of the sprawling city.

Wael Alwan, spokesman for the Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel group Failaq al Rahman, said: "We launched the new offensive and we restored all the points we withdrew from on Monday."

He said the attack strengthened the hand of the mainstream opposition ahead of new peace talks in Geneva on Thursday. "Our gains today will give strength to our presence in Geneva after tomorrow," he added.

Another rebel official heading to Geneva said the attack showed the limitations of Russia's extensive military support.

"This is a military and political message to Russia that the regime is weak and has no full control and is unable to decisively tilt the balance in its favour militarily," Issam al Rayess, a spokesman for the FSA's Southern Front alliance of Western and Arab backed rebel groups.

The Syrian military source said: "They entered a narrow pocket - the same area of the (previous) breach - and now this group is being dealt with."

State media said rebels who infiltrated the city and Jobar had fled with scores arrested or killed but gave no details.

State television played what it said was footage taken on Tuesday morning on Faris Al Khouri street, which runs towards the Abbasiyin garages, and showed thick dark smoke rising in the distance.

The government says the attack is being carried out by fighters of the Nusra Front, a militant group that was Al Qaeda's official affiliate in the Syrian war until it declared they had broken off ties last year. The Nusra Front is now part of an alliance called Tahrir Al Sham.

The attack has relieved pressure on rebels who have lost ground in the nearby areas of Qaboun and Barza, where the army says rebels have constructed an elaborate network of tunnels that provide essential goods that have for years helped Eastern Ghouta withstand a tough siege.

A rebel commander said the Syrian army was intensifying its shelling on areas where they had advanced in Jobar and towns across Eastern Ghouta. "There is no place that has not been hit," said Abu Abdo a field commander from Failaq Al Rahman brigade.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, said at least 143 air raids were conducted by the Syrian army on rebel held eastern parts of Damascus, mostly targeting Jobar, since the rebels launched their offensive.

 

 

Source: Timesofoman

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

syrian rebels launch second damascus attack in three days syrian rebels launch second damascus attack in three days

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

syrian rebels launch second damascus attack in three days syrian rebels launch second damascus attack in three days

 



GMT 13:42 2015 Saturday ,04 April

Libyan warplane targets camp in Gharyan town

GMT 15:14 2017 Wednesday ,01 March

UN documents nearly 1,500 child soldiers in Yemen

GMT 07:24 2017 Sunday ,01 October

Mexico unlikely to find more quake survivors

GMT 16:15 2015 Wednesday ,11 November

German intelligence 'spied' on Fabius, FBI, UN bodies

GMT 01:32 2017 Saturday ,15 April

Russia's Putin earns about 157,000 USD in 2016

GMT 16:30 2017 Saturday ,15 July

Minister of planning gives priority

GMT 19:45 2017 Wednesday ,05 April

President of Senegal Meets Attorney General

GMT 05:18 2017 Thursday ,21 September

Over 80 missing after migrant boat sinks off Libya

GMT 19:22 2017 Saturday ,01 April

UN: Number of Syrian Refugees Tops 5 million

GMT 15:16 2016 Thursday ,29 September

FBI to put up database on police use of deadly force

GMT 05:06 2016 Friday ,30 September

Indian markets open flat

GMT 01:57 2017 Tuesday ,10 October

Twin suicide bombs kill 13 near Mogadishu airport

GMT 02:25 2017 Friday ,08 September

UAE celebrates National Day at Expo 2017 Astana

GMT 06:19 2017 Sunday ,08 January

Bleaching poses the gravest threat to coral reefs

GMT 12:35 2017 Monday ,18 September

Elham Shahin happy for “Day for Women”

GMT 09:46 2017 Thursday ,22 June

US existing home sales unexpectedly rise in May

GMT 02:36 2017 Tuesday ,10 January

US embassy condemns Al-Arish suicide attack

GMT 10:34 2017 Sunday ,26 November

czar faces graft probe
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday