Syrian Army Retakes Key Town from Terrorists near Damascus
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Syrian army, backed by volunteer forces, seized back a strategic town southeast of Damascus from the clutches of Takfiri terrorists, a report said.
After heavy fighting in an assault by the government side, the terrorists were being driven out of the town of Deir al-Asafir in the Syrian capital's Eastern Ghouta suburbs, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, AFP reported.
The town's recapture closed off a pocket of militant control in Eastern Ghouta, and could pave the way for further government advances in the region that has long been held by a number of Takfiri groups, Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman said.
Hundreds of families were fleeing the area because of the intensity of the fighting, the Observatory said.
Government forces and their allies have made major advances in Eastern Ghouta recently while Takfiri groups in the area have fought among themselves.
The retake of Deir al-Asafir was an advance that once again exploited the militant infighting, Abdulrahman said.
Earlier in May, 300 Takfiri militants were killed in clashes between al-Nusra Front terrorists and rival terror groups in Eastern Ghouta.
The clashes between the terrorist groups have been raging for more than 20 days.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), currently controlling parts of it.
According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.
