Villages captured in rebel region as Syrian troops make advance

Syrian troops and allied militias have captured a number of villages and towns in a rebel-held region near the country’s capital in the largest advance since a widescale offensive started last month.

Government forces captured at least six villages and towns along the edge of eastern Ghouta in the advance that started late Saturday, Syria’s Central Military Media has said.

A reporter from the staterun Al-ikhbariyah TV, who accompanied the troops, broadcast from Nashabiyah – a village on the southeastern edge of eastern Ghouta.

The reporter said the Syrian troops had crossed a “moat” and seized about 4.6 square miles of territory.

The advance was backed by intense shelling and airstrikes. Rebel factions said they launched a counter offensive yesterday, sending fighters behind government lines in a series of attacks.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels regained control of at least one town, while fighting continued.

The Observatory and the Syrian Civil Defence said civilians had fled their homes because of the advancing troops.

Many civilians took cover in underground shelters.

“It is a scorched-earth policy,” Ghouta-based activist Nour Adam said. “People are moving out because of the relentless bombing.”

Eastern Ghouta, home to some 400,000 people, has been under a crippling siege and daily bombardment for months.

More than 600 civilians have been killed in the past two weeks alone.

No civilians have exited through a humanitarian corridor set up by Russia and the Syrian government nearly a week ago. Russia has accused the rebels of preventing civilians from leaving. The allegations have been denied by the insurgents.

The rebels said the humanitarian corridor was part of government efforts to forcibly displace the population.

They have called on government forces to implement a full cease-fire adopted by the UN Security Council.

Anunnamedmilitaryofficial was quoted as saying the latest operation came in response to the shelling of Damascus and surrounding areas. The official said preparations were underway to deliver food to civilians in the besieged area.

The UN has said a daily fivehour humanitarian pause ordered by Russia was not enough time to deliver aid.

Ghouta has not had any aid delivered since November when a limited amount of supplies entered the area. Eastern Ghouta has been besieged by government forces since 2013

0 A bandaged Syrian child sits on a bed next to another child after receiving medical attention at a makeshift hospital in the rebel-held town of Douma, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region outside the cap ital, Damascus, where government forces launched a large scale offensive last month.