Syrian Army Fortifying Positions Outside Damascus
BEIRUT – Arabtelegraph – Syrian troops have been digging in on the outskirts of Damascus, with fighting continuing in the western Homs and Hama provinces as well as in Daraa further south, the Syrian army’s main command said on Saturday.
“Our armed forces have fortified all their positions outside Damascus and the southern district to prevent chaos, which terrorists are trying to sow, from causing any trouble,” the military command said in a statement.
It added that hundreds of militants had been killed or injured in the Syrian army’s multipronged offensive across three provinces.
“Our valiant army continues conducting highly effective special operations to deter terrorists in the north of the Daraa governorate and in the Hama and Homs governorates. Hundreds of terrorists have been killed or injured. Tens of pieces of military hardware, command centers and arms depots have been eliminated,” it said.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group (formerly known as the Nusra Front, banned in Russia) launched a large-scale offensive against the Syrian government on November 29, advancing from the north of the northwestern Idlib region towards the cities of Aleppo and Hama. A day later, Syria’s second largest city of Aleppo was captured by militants for the first time since the Syrian conflict began in 2011.