Sheikh Zahran Alloush, leader of key armed opposition group in Syria, tweeted on his official account that the road to break Ghouta's siege is very close.
Islam Army, with 50 fighting groups
operate under its command, has lost 65 jihadist during the liberation battles of Damascus eastern suburbs, Alloush said.
Fierce fighting to the east of Damascus has killed more than 500 people in the past week as Syrian rebels struggle to break a months-long blockade by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, activists said.
It began on last Friday when rebel units
attacked a string of military checkpoints encircling the opposition-held
suburbs in an area known as Eastern Ghouta, which has been under siege for more
than six months.
Local and international aid workers
say Assad’s forces appeared to be trying to starve out residents -
indiscriminately affecting civilians as much as rebel fighters.
The blockade has cut off rebels’
weapons supplies and helped turn the tide of fighting around the capital in
Assad’s favor, according to Reuters.
The battle has also drawn in hundreds
of foreign fighters on both sides, underlining how Syria’s civil war has
stirred Sunni-Shi’ite sectarian tensions across the region.
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