New gains for the Syrian army as it liberates suburbs of Damuscus

As the Syrian conflict is still going on between different groups and in different parts all over the country, the reports say that the Syrian army has managed to take back the control of a new area close to the capital. After the development, the rebels are leaving the area, surrounding it to the government forces.

کد خبر: ۶۹۴۰۷۷

تاریخ: ۲۴ ارديبهشت ۱۳۹۶ - ۱۴:۴۰

Tabnak – As the Syrian conflict is still going on between different groups and in different parts all over the country, the reports say that the Syrian army has managed to take back the control of a new area close to the capital. After the development, the rebels are leaving the area, surrounding it to the government forces.

According to the field sources, the Syrian army and its allies stepped up their attack on militant and terrorist groups in a suburb of Damascus and recaptured the strategic district of al-Qaboun from the militants.

The al-Qaboun area in eastern Damascus was fully liberated from the grip of the terrorists on Friday following weeks of clashes between the government forces and militant groups. Syrian troops intensified their operations in the region in early March, in an attempt to force the terrorists to surrender or leave the area.

However, in a separate report of the developments, Reuters writes that the rebels said they still held a small pocket within the neighborhood that lies in the northeastern edge of the capital.

The reports adds that hundreds of rebels and their families had been evacuated this week from the adjacent Barzeh district after rebels there decided to lay down their arms and leave to rebel-held Idlib province. They included some from Qaboun.

Meanwhile, Aljazeera writes today that the Syrian government forces and militant groups have reached an agreement to evacuate rebel fighters and residents from the Qaboun neighborhood. Syria's state news agency, Sana, reported on Saturday that the agreement had been reached after rebels surrendered following intense clashes in Qaboun.

A video published by Almasdar News which has been filmed by an Syrian army soldier inside Al-Qaboun shows that the militants are passing their weapons to Syrian military and packing their personal things.

A Syrian officer can be heard on the video telling militants that anyone wishing to stay in Al-Qaboun can stay, settle his legal status with the government, bring his family to the district and return to peaceful life.

The evacuations are the latest in a string of similar deals between the government and rebels under which opposition fighters are granted safe passage in exchange for surrendering. The government touts the deals as the best way to end the six-year war.

In another detailed report from inside the newly-liberated area, Almasdar News says that upon entre to the rebel-held residential areas of Al-Qaboun, the Syrian Army discovered a number of dead militants loyal to Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), formerly known as Jabhat Al-Nusra, on Saturday.

Over the past six years, Syria has been fighting foreign-sponsored militancy. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated in August that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the Syrian crisis until then. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.