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Syrian forces encircle Wadi Barada
[al-Manar] Syrian forces have reportedly encircled a militant-held area on the Damascus outskirts, where the capital’s water supplies are located.The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the route between Wadi Barada, and the adjacent militant-controlled Qalamoun region, was cut on Thursday. SOHR Head Rami Abdel Rahman said the government forces and allied fighters “besieged Wadi Barada” following “an advance from the north” the previous day. Home to the key Ain al-Fijeh spring, Wadi Barada has been rocked by fierce clashes since December 2016. The government forces have been fighting in the area against Takfiri militants, who have damaged the water processing facilities there and cut water flow to some 5.5 million people in Damascus and its suburbs. Last week, locals struck a truce deal with the Syrian authorities to allow the water pipes to be repaired. However, the agreement was called off after terrorists in Wadi Barada killed Ahmad al-Ghadban, a representative of the Syrian government, who would coordinate reconciliation talks between Damascus and militant groups. Meanwhile, an unnamed Syrian military source confirmed that the government troops had encircled Wadi Barada and that fighting was ongoing. “Ain al-Fijeh has practically fallen militarily. The armed groups are surrounded… and have no choice but to accept the settlement or the continuation of the military operation,” the source said. Hezbullies weigh in with their own load of bullsh*t [al-Manar] Syrian army managed on Thursday to seize control over Wadi Tamama and Abu Salem crossing in Wadi Barada area in rural Damascus, Hezbollah Military Media Bureau reported. The seizure tightens the grip against terrorists and totally isolates the barrens and Ifra village from Wadi Barada region. It also blocks the supply to armed groups from the barrens in subject. Syrian rebels advance in eastern Ghouta [AAWSAT] The Syrian regime has increased the pace of its military operations in the area of Wadi Barada which is situated in the north-western countryside of the capital Damascus. It has launched violent attacks, in coordination with Hezbollah fighters and militants loyal to it, on locations occupied by opposition factions in Ain Al-Fijah and the town of Ifrah in an attempt to crack down on the region and regain control of towns in Wadi Barada. Meanwhile, the opposition continue to advance, albeit slowly, in eastern Ghouta and they managed to kill a number of Syrian soldiers after tunnels used by Assad’s forces near the city of Harasta were bombed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the clashes that took place yesterday were concentrated in the vicinity of Ain Al-Fijah and on the Kafeer Al-Zayt and Wadi Allouz fronts. It added that the clashes occurred at the same time as “strikes carried out by warplanes and helicopters on the village of Ain Al-Fijah and the area surrounding it”. The observatory also said that the regime’s forces “targeted the area where the clashes were taking place with ground- to-ground missiles that it launched from its positions overlooking Wadi Barada”. An activist in Damascus named Diaa Husseini said that “attacks carried out by the regime and its allies focused, in the last few hours, on the towns of Ain Al-Fijah, Deir Muqrin, Ifrah and Kafeer Al-Zayt”. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the regime is giving the factions two options; either they lay down their arms and become displaced or they will continue to be bombed and the dire humanitarian situation will deteriorate. Posted by: badanov 2017-01-20 |
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