Syria, Russia may launch new air assault on Ghouta
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Beirut, March 27: Syria and its ally Russia have threatened to resume bombing the final opposition holdout of Douma in Eastern Ghouta unless rebels there agree to evacuate, sources told AFP on Tuesday.
Jaish al- Islam, the powerful Islamist faction that holds Douma, had hoped that talks with Moscow would result in their staying in the town, instead of being bused out like other rebels.
But negotiations have stalled and Russia has demanded a full withdrawal from Douma, two opposition sources close to the negotiations said.
“At the end of their
Jaish al- Islam, the powerful Islamist faction that holds Douma, had hoped that talks with Moscow would result in their staying in the town, instead of being bused out like other rebels meeting Monday, the Russians gave Jaish alIslam two choices: surrender or face an attack,” one of them told AFP.
Russia gave the group a few days before a military assault on the town, they said. Damascus: The largest convoy yet of rebel fighters and civilians evacuated from Eastern Ghouta arrived on Tuesday in northwestern Syria, further emptying the onetime opposition bastion. Government troops, backed by Russia and loyalist militia, launched a ferocious assault more than a month ago to retake the enclave on the outskirts of Damascus.