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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Regime forces launch offensive on Wadi Barada as water supplies cut |
| 2016-12-25 |
| [EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Syrian regime forces on Saturday have intensified its aerial and ground shelling on Wadi Barada valley northwest of the capital, causing cut in water supply after targeting al-Fija spring, activists said. The heavy aerial bombing on an array of villages in a mountainous area near the Lebanese border seeks new forced displacement, local activists said as regime forces aim to have a rebel-free zone around the capital. Regime helicopters dropped at least 26 barrel bombs on the valley where the al-Fija spring which supplies Damascus with water. The Damascus water authority claimed Friday that it had been forced to cut water supplies coming into the capital and use reserves instead after rebels polluted the water with diesel. The regime controls much of the surrounding territory and on Friday carried out aerial attacks and shelled the rebel-held area, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A military news outlet run by Syrian government ally Hezbollah said the rebels in the Wadi Barada valley had refused to leave the area and as a result the Syrian Arab Army began an offensive against them on Friday morning. Through a series of so-called settlement agreements and army offensives, the Syrian regime, backed by Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, has been steadily suppressing armed opposition around the capital. |
| Posted by:Fred |