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Syrians celebrate retaking town near Israel-occupied Golan
[DAWN] Syrian officials on Friday celebrated the recapture of this symbolic southern town near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, raising a flag and playing the national anthem to mark the victory over the gangs that controlled it for more than four years.A picture of  Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... was hoisted on a partially destroyed monument in central Quneitra, where his father had raised the Syrian flag after Israel withdrew more than four decades ago. Friday’s ceremony was attended by hundreds of flag-waving people from nearby villages, who sang the anthem, danced and cheered the Syrian army and affiliated militias. Quneitra was abandoned after Israel destroyed it as it withdrew in 1974 following the Mideast war, although Israel continued to occupy the adjacent Golan Heights, seized in 1967. A ceasefire and a disengagement agreement have largely held along the demarcation lines for four decades. During Syria’s civil war, gangs captured the town and large parts of southwestern Syria, forcing a UN peacekeeping force there to evacuate. Posted by: Fred 2018-07-29 |
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