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Deadly ambush near Damascus hits pro-Assad forces
[Al Jazeera] Activists say 28 Syrian government soldiers have been killed in a firefight after a military unit was ambushed near the capital, Damascus.

The ambush on Thursday followed days of intense fighting as opposition-held suburbs of Damascus have come under a government offensive.

The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the soldiers and allied fighters were ambushed in the village of Rihan, east of Damascus.

Anas al-Dimashqi, an opposition activist based in the area, and the SOHR said the ambush killed at least 28 troops and pro-government fighters.

Syrian government forces and their allies have been trying to storm the eastern suburbs of Damascus, known as Eastern Ghouta, but have struggled to penetrate opposition defences.

More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the ongoing conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.


Posted by: Fred 2017-07-21
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=493188