Syria’s Assad replaces 3 ministers
Troops’ clashes with rebels escalate in Damascus suburbs
BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad reshuffled his government Monday by replacing the ministers of defense, information and industry, the state-run news agency reported.
The Syrian Arab News Agency did not give a reason for the government reshuffle, though Assad has managed to shore up his power as his forces, under the cover of Russian airstrikes and with the help of Iran-backed fighters, have been gaining ground over the past two years in the country’s civil war.
The news agency said the army’s commander, Gen. Ali Ayoub, has been named defense minister, replacing Fahd Jassem al-Freij, who had held the post since 2012. Ayoub had been the army chief of staff since July 2012.
The agency added that Imad Sarah was named information minister while Mohammed Mazen Youssef was chosen as the new minister of industry.
The announcement came as parts of Syria witnessed violence, mostly in the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, and in northwestern Syria, where troops are on the offensive on the southern edge of Idlib province.
Heavy clashes broke out between Syrian government forces and insurgents east of Damascus when troops under the cover of a dozen airstrikes tried to reach a force trapped inside, opposition activists said.
The clashes have been ongoing for several days. But on Sunday, rebels backed by al-Qaida-linked fighters attacked troops and pro-government gunmen, capturing parts of a military installation and surrounding the force inside.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syria-based activist Mazen al-Shami said Monday’s fighting was concentrated inside the military installation near the suburb of Harasta, where the government force has been trapped.
The Observatory said the Syrian air force conducted at least a dozen airstrikes on Harasta and nearby suburbs. Al-Shami reported dozens of airstrikes. He said the government sent in reinforcements overnight and was trying to reach the trapped force.
The Observatory said three days of violence in the Damascus suburb known as eastern Ghouta has killed 35 civilians as well as 24 government troops and 29 insurgents.
An official with the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham insurgent group said the government was negotiating the passage of fighters trapped in the military installation. The official, who asked not to be named because of the secrecy of the talks, said the negotiations were in their preliminary stages.
Syria’s state media did not mention the trapped force but blamed insurgents for the violence, saying that they were firing shells into government-controlled areas, killing at least one civilian.
The U.N. says government forces are holding nearly 400,000 people under siege in eastern Ghouta. The region was once a hotbed of protest against Assad’s government.