Syria’s regime carried out air raids on one of the last rebel strongholds near Damascus Sunday, a monitor said, a day after it declared a ceasefire in parts of the besieged enclave. The Syrian army on Saturday announced a halt in fighting for parts of Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held region on the outskirts of the … Read more
At least 28 Syrian government soldiers and pro-regime fighters were killed Wednesday in a rebel ambush in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus, a monitor said Thursday. The fighters came under attack by the Army of Islam rebel group as they attempted to advance in the town of Al-Rihan, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human … Read more
Government forces carried out heavy bombardment Friday of a rebel-held district on the eastern edge of the Syrian capital in support of advancing troops, an activist and monitor said. Ain Terma lies in Eastern Ghouta, the largest rebel enclave around Damascus, which is part of an envisioned “de-escalation zone” agreed by regional powers in May. … Read more
The Syrian army has regained full control of two central villages from the Islamic State group after an attack that killed dozens of people, a monitor said on Friday. Troops and allied militiamen retook the Hama province villages of Aqareb and Al-Mabujeh a day after the jihadist assault, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. … Read more
Syria’s regime is close to cementing its control over the entire capital under local deals with rebels after a six-year war that has ravaged suburbs of Damascus and caused population displacements. Rebels have evacuated some of the last Damascus districts under their control, shattering their dream of one day seizing the capital and toppling a … Read more
Civilians and rebels began evacuating a third opposition-held district of Damascus on Sunday, bringing the government closer to cementing its control over the Syrian capital. An AFP correspondent inside Qabun saw around 10 buses carrying out residents and fighters in the morning, after a deal for the neighbourhood was announced late Saturday following heavy fighting. … Read more
Syrian government forces have gained ground in a rebel-held district of Damascus as part of the regime’s efforts to push insurgents into accepting an evacuation deal, a monitor said Thursday. In fighting since Wednesday night, “regime troops have managed to advance in the Qabun district” of eastern Damascus, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. … Read more
A huge blast which struck near Damascus airport early on Thursday was caused by Israeli missiles hitting a “military position”, Syria’s state SANA news agency reported. “A military position southwest of Damascus International Airport was targeted at dawn today by an Israeli aggression using several missiles fired from occupied territory, sparking explosions in the area,” … Read more
At least 19 civilians were killed on Tuesday in heavy aerial bombardment of several opposition-held towns east of the Syrian capital, a monitoring group said. Six children were among the dead in Eastern Ghouta, the largest rebel bastion near Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “It was a series of air strikes throughout … Read more
Air strikes by Syrian warplanes on a rebel-held region near Damascus killed at least 22 civilians on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. The highest toll was in Douma, the largest town in the Eastern Ghouta region, where raids killed 16 civilians including at least one child and wounded 22, it said. … Read more
At least 16 civilians were killed and dozens wounded on Saturday in an air strike on a rebel-held area outside Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. It said it was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strike on the town Hammuriyeh in the opposition bastion of Eastern Ghouta, which has … Read more
Syrian government troops on Friday recaptured all points taken by rebels in a surprise offensive launched late last week in the east of the capital Damascus, state media said. “The army has retaken all the areas infiltrated by the terrorists in the area between the Jobar and Qabun neighbourhoods… after intensive military operations,” the official … Read more
Syrian warplanes hammered opposition-held neighbourhoods of Damascus on Monday after regime forces pushed back a surprise assault that saw rebels try to fight their way into the city centre. Rebels and allied jihadists, led by former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, launched an attack early Sunday on government positions in east Damascus, initially scoring key … Read more
Heavy clashes rocked eastern districts of the Syrian capital on Sunday after rebel fighters launched a surprise assault on government forces, a monitor and state television said. Steady shelling and sniper fire could be heard across Damascus on Sunday as rebel factions allied with former al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Fateh al-Sham launched an attack on government … Read more
Rebel-held areas on the outskirts of Damascus have been extensively damaged in recent months Syrian security forces are engaged in fierce clashes with rebels on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus, residents say. Artillery shells and rockets landed inside the heart of the city as part of a surprise rebel attack, they say. The … Read more
Two people were killed on Wednesday in bombardment of a Syrian rebel bastion near Damascus, a monitor said, less than 24 hours after Russia announced a freeze in fighting there. “A young man and a woman were killed in air strikes on Douma,” the largest town in the Eastern Ghouta region, said Rami Abdel Rahman, … Read more
A ceasefire has been declared in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, a rebel bastion near Damascus, to run from midnight last Sunday to March 20, Russia’s defence ministry said. “A ‘regime of silence’ has been introduced from 00:01 on March 6 to 23:59 on March 20 (Damascus time) in the area of Eastern Ghouta,” the ministry said … Read more
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad prayed on Monday at a mosque in a Damascus suburb that was evacuated by rebels and surrendered to government control last month, state media reported. Assad visited the city of Daraya, southwest of Damascus, on the occasion of Eid al-Adha. Daraya had been a major symbol of the uprising against Assad, … Read more