Syrian forces push farther into rebel turf
BEIRUT — Syrian government forces have captured a central town and adjacent villages, boosting security in nearby areas loyal to President Bashar Assad, and marched deeper into a rebel-held neighborhood of Damascus, Syrian state media and an opposition monitoring group said Sunday.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency quoted an unnamed military official as saying Sunday that troops and pro-government fighters captured the central town of Halfaya and nearby villages after days of intense clashes.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says insurgents — including members of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, the militant group formerly known as the Nusra Front — withdrew from Halfaya and area villages as a result of the intensity of the ground attack and scores of airstrikes.
Saturday’s capture of Halfaya and nearby areas came after government forces captured the nearby town of Taybet alImam on April 17. Assad’s forces lost Halfaya in the summer of 2016.
In the capital of Damascus, government forces pushed deeper into the rebel-held neighborhood of Qaboun, capturing a mosque on a key road, the Syrian Central Military Media said. The Observatory reported intense clashes in the area.
Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera reported that Israeli airstrikes killed an unknown number of Syrian soldiers at a weapons depot in rural Quneitra province. An Israeli army spokesman declined to comment.
Sunday’s strike came after several projectiles from Syria hit the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on Friday. The army returned fired at areas where the projectiles originated.
Since the conflict in Syria began, Israel has been accused of carrying out occasional strikes targeting weapons convoys destined for Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military works to limit the transfer of “game-changing” weapons to Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
Israel is concerned that Hezbollah and Iran, which are fighting alongside forces loyal to Assad, are growing stronger as Assad gains the upper hand in the fighting. Netanyahu discussed Iran and Syria on Friday during U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis’ visit to the region.
The conflict in Syria, which began in March 2011 and devolved into civil war, has killed an estimated 400,000 people and displaced half the country’s population.
Also on Sunday, the Syrian Arab News Agency said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a cable to Assad on the occasion of Syria’s April 17 Independence Day.
“We count on your country’s involvement and effective contribution to help build a stronger United Nations organization and move our efforts forward to ensure peace, development and human rights for all people,” the letter said, according to a copy released by Assad’s office.
The United Nations still allows Syria to hold a seat, unlike the 22-member Arab League, which suspended Syria’s membership in 2012.
Information for this article was contributed by Albert Aji and staff members of The Associated Press; and by Mohammed Aly Sergie and David Wainer of Bloomberg News.