Syria Army Steps Up Operations near Damascus

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

Regime tanks and warplanes pounded besieged Mleiha east of Damascus on Friday, pressing a campaign to take control of the opposition-held town, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Syrian warplanes also raided a rebel-held district in the northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 11 people, and 22 were wounded when mortar rounds slammed into central Damascus, the monitor said.

In Mleiha at least eight fighters, including a rebel commander, were killed in fierce fighting with government forces, said the Britain-based Observatory.

The previous day 22 opposition fighters were killed, said the Observatory which relies on medics and activists on the ground for its reports.

On Friday, regime warplanes launched at least four air raids on Mleiha, which like much of the Eastern Ghouta area east of Damascus has been under army siege for nearly six months.

Mleiha is near regime-held Jaramana, which is frequently shelled by the rebels, and on Thursday six children were killed in one mortar attack, according to state news agency SANA.

Activist Abu Saqr, speaking to Agence France Presse via Skype from the Ghouta region, said that Syrian regime troops have been trying to storm Mleiha for the past two days.

But the rebel Free Syrian Army is blocking the offensive, he said.

The fighting has forced several families to flee to neighboring areas, he said, adding that "Iraqi militiamen" are backing the loyalist army. His comments could not be independently verified.

The army launched a campaign in March last year to crush rebel bastions in Eastern Ghouta and blockaded the area completely in October, leading to residents suffering from food shortages.

In Damascus mortar rounds rained down on two districts on Friday, wounding 22 people, said SANA which blamed "terrorists" -- the regime term for rebels.

Meanwhile the death toll from air raids on the Aleppo rebel-held district of Shaar rose to 11, the Observatory said, after reporting only two killed.

Hundreds of people, mostly civilians, have been killed in air strikes on rebel areas in Aleppo since the regime launched a major aerial offensive on the northern city in December.

Clashes on Friday also rocked the coastal province of Latakia in western Syria as rebels pressed a two-week-old offensive in the heartland of President Bashar Assad's clan and his Alawite sect.

Fighting was particularly fierce over a strategic hilltop known as Observatory 45 which commands towns and villages inhabited by Alawites.

Rebels overran it last week, but the Syrian Revolution General Commission network of activists said regime forces managed to take the summit of the hill on Thursday and fighting was raging again.

More than 300 fighters on both sides have been killed in Latakia in the past two weeks, the Observatory says.

Among them was Moroccan jihadist Ibrahim Benchekroun, a former Guantanamo inmate who fought U.S. troops in Afghanistan after al-Qaida's September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

In northwest Syria, rebels took control of Babuleen and Salhiyeh in Idlib province, a year after regime forces had captured them, said the Observatory, adding that at least 18 troops were killed in the fighting.

The rebel advance helps tighten their siege on Wadi Deif army base, one of the regime's last significant positions in Idlib.

Comments 6
Missing peace 04 April 2014, 19:25

your rant is getting old... change your record... and stop your baathist propaganda....

Missing coolmec 04 April 2014, 19:46

Hello everyone
I agree the regime is doomed. Such regime cannot survive. The question is not whether Bachar will survive or not but who will replace him if Syria remain one country. So far the alternative is scary specially that the so called moderate opposition is worthless and powerless

Missing coolmec 04 April 2014, 21:46

Jerry
I hope what you said above will happen I really do because as of now we are in I'll be damned if I do and I'll be damned if I don't type situation. as such Bachar or ISIL are bad for Lebanon and the FSA is powerless
What a choice for poor Lebanon huh??

Missing coolmec 04 April 2014, 20:10

well be it his strategy or not he is doomed so is Syria and unfortunately Lebanon is paying the price and will continue to do so as chaos and fawda grips the country

Missing coolmec 04 April 2014, 21:41

Zahle
I totally understand what you're saying. I am no Bachar supporter by all means and I always supported his overthrow because once he is kicked out of power the Syrian government's influence will greatly diminish if it does not get eliminated. Nevertheless and since I am losing hope that the moderate FSA can get strong and rule the country. As such I am very concerned that the Jihadists take over I think they will do worse than Bahar. Look how they are treating their fellow sunnis in Aleppo or anywhere else. That makes bachar the least of the 2 evils and that is very unsettling

Missing coolmec 04 April 2014, 21:43

let me elaborate
I said the Syrian gov't influence will diminish in LEBANON
that is what I omitted above
sorry