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Syrian Army, Hezbollah intensify offensive in Wadi Barada
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA), alongside Hezbollah, continued their large-scale assault in the Wadi Barada area of west Damascus on Monday, striking the jihadist defenses at several sites around the small towns of Bassima and Deir Maqran.

Led by the 42nd Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division, the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah began the day firing several anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) at the enemy defenses, scoring direct hits on a number of armored vehicles and bully boy hideouts in the Wadi Barada area.

Following the barrage of missiles, the Syrian Arab Army and Hezbollah stormed the enemy defenses north of Deir Maqran; this resulted in a series of intense firefights that are still ongoing at the moment.

No significant gains have been reported to al-Masdar as of yet; however, the purpose of today's assault seems to be about forcing the jihadist rebels to negotiate the surrender of Wadi Barada, not seizing land.

Wadi Barada, which is mostly under the control of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham
...formerly al-Nusra, the current false nose and mustache of al-Qaeda in the Levant...
(formerly al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front) and Harakat Ahrar al-Sham
...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014...
, is the key to the water crisis in Damascus; as long as it remains under bully boy control, the government will not have the ability to restore the water supply to the estimated 5 million people in the historical Syrian capital.


Posted by: Fred 2017-01-10
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=478023