SYRIAN ARMY CUTS LINKS TO KEY TOWNS
Troops make major advances in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta
THE Syrian army has in effect cut off the two large eastern Ghouta towns of Douma and Harasta by advancing into areas between them and the rest of the rebel enclave, and by bringing roads linking them into firing range, a war monitor said.
The advances yesterday included taking the town of Mesraba at a narrow point joining the northern and southern halves of the rebel area, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Jaish al-Islam and Failaq alRahman, the two main insurgent groups in eastern Ghouta, located just outside the capital Damascus, said they had staged counterattacks in recent days that retook some lost positions.
The ferocious three-week assault on the last major rebel stronghold near Damascus had captured about half its area and killed 960 people, according to the Britain-based Observatory.
The Observatory also said warplanes, helicopters and artillery had been used in bombardment of the area overnight.
The Syrian army had advanced into the area between the two large towns of Harasta and Douma, it added. The offensive followed the pattern of previous assaults on rebel strongholds, deploying massive air power and tight sieges to force insurgents to accept “evacuation” deals.
These involve rebels surrendering territory in exchange for safe passage to opposition areas in northwest Syria, along with their families and other civilians who do not want to come back under Assad’s rule.
On Friday, a small number of fighters and their families from the former al-Qaeda affiliate known as the Nusra Front left eastern Ghouta under such a deal.
But the group represented a small portion only of the insurgent presence in the enclave, and both Jaish al-Islam and Failaq alRahman had said they were not negotiating a similar deal for themselves.