Syria Army Retakes Several Areas in Wadi Barada

According to Tasnim dispatches, Syrian troops on Monday made advances against the Takfiri terrorists in the valley of Wadi Barada, and managed to wrest control of several hilltops in the areas of Zahr al-Masabi and Kfeir al-Zayt.

Large groups of the militants were killed in the attacks, with scores more fleeing the battle scene.

The operations came after the al-Nusra terrorists violated a temporary ceasefire that took effect on January 7.

The Syrian government and the terrorist group reached a truce deal on Saturday whereby the militants had been allowed to leave Damascus unharmed and move to the northwestern Idlib province.

Following the truce deal, repair teams arrived in Wadi Barada valley to begin work on restoring the capital's water supply.

Millions of people have been without water for weeks after the terrorists damaged key infrastructure in the Wadi Barada region that is the main water source for Damascus.

The al-Fija spring which supplies Damascus with water is in the militant-held Wadi Barada valley northwest of the capital in a mountainous area near the Lebanese border.

Each neighborhood in Damascus reportedly gets water for about two hours a day and bottled water prices have increased dramatically in the free market.

The terrorists in Wadi Barada have cut water supplies several times in the past to prevent the Syrian army from recapturing the area.

Last week, the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Local Administration ordered authorities in the provinces of Rif Dimashq and Damascus to start using water reserves until the problem was resolved.

Syria has been the scene of a foreign-backed crisis since early 2011.

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.