(Zaman Al Wasl)- Eastern Ghouta’s rebels denied regime reports of dividing the besieged enclave in two, saying they thwarted the multi-axes attack to advance in Ghouta on Thursday.
The regime, determined to wrest the suburbs from the control of rebels after seven years of war, has resorted to extreme levels of shelling and bombardment to clear the way for its troops to advance on the ground.
The rebels have retaken two thirds of Beit Sawa town as well they deterred regime forces at al-Rihan battlefront.
In contrary to rebels statement, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that by nightfall, Syrian regime troops and allied militias had seized half of the territory held by rebels in Eastern Ghouta and split the enclave in two.
Hezbollah’s War Media Center said Wednesday troops took control of the towns of Beit Sawa, Al-Ashaari and most of Misraba, both rebel-held communities inside the enclave.
By slicing the territory, the Syrian government succeeds in severing supply routes and squeezing further rebels inside.
The blistering onslaught has prompted international outrage, including accusations by the United Nations that the government was orchestrating an “apocalypse.”
The Russia-backed Syrian army and allied militia began a bombing campaign on Feb. 18 on Eastern Ghouta – the last opposition bastion near Damascus – then launched a ground offensive a week later.
The campaign has so far left at least 850 civilians dead in the enclave, while rebel shelling of the capital has killed 27 civilians, according to the observatory. Towns and villages have fallen in quick succession in recent days. The observatory said an extra 700 pro-government militia fighters had arrived at the front as reinforcements to join the operation.
The U.N. Security Council called Wednesday for its Feb. 24 resolution demanding a 30-day cease-fire across Syria to be implemented.
The offensive has displaced more than 10,000 people in Eastern Ghouta, according to the observatory. Outside of Douma Wednesday, dozens of residents could be seen pushing wheelbarrows and carts piled high with mattresses, rugs, and cardboard boxes.
They have opted to flee deeper into the rebel-controlled enclave, despite a so-called “humanitarian corridor” announced by Moscow last week. No Syrian civilians are known to have used the “corridor.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said some rebels wanted to accept the proposal to evacuate. So far the rebels have dismissed it in public.
Defeat in Eastern Ghouta would mark the worst setback for the anti-Assad rebellion since the opposition was driven from Eastern Aleppo in late 2016 after a similar campaign of siege, bombing, ground assaults and the promise of safe passage out.
In relevant development, Syrian regime has freed 400 people arrested seven months ago while they were fleeing ISIS-held area in eastern Syria province to the Qalamoun region near Damascus, a rebel spokesman said Thursday.
Said Seif, spokesman for Ahmed al-Abdo Battalions, told Zaman al-Wasl that 400 of about 1000 people held in al-Dumayr military airport, 46 km (30) miles) east of the capital had been freed by the regime air intelligence.
The displaced people fled Deir Ezzor, Raqqa, Hasaka, the eastern countryside of Homs into the town of al-Dumayr but regime forces arrested them.
As regime forces launch one the bloodiest offensives in Eastern Ghouta since the revolution started in 2011, al-Dumayr airport has turned into a key bastion for the aggression acts against the embattled enclave.
Seif said the release of displaced people was due to the regime's need for buildings to settle hundreds of loyal fighters are taking from the airport a mobilization point.
Zaman Al Wasl
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