Syria: At least 160 dead in two days of fighting near Damascus

 

At least 160 rebels and loyalist fighters were killed in two days of fierce fighting in the eastern Ghouta east of Damascus, considered the most important stronghold of the rebellion near the capital, an NGO reported Sunday.

Faced with the recent success of the army in the province of Damascus that has blocked the supply of rebels to the southern districts of the capital, insurgents try to defend their main stronghold in the east and to “break the siege imposed by the army on the region “for months, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (OSDH).

The battle broke out Friday when hundreds of rebels and jihad is attacked dams and positions in at least five areas of Ghouta.

During the fighting, at least 55 Syrian rebels, seven battalion commanders and 41 jihadists of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (EIIL) and the Frente Al-Nosra, mostly foreign fighters, were killed, according to the OSDH which is based on an extensive network of civilian sources, medical and military.

The Loyalist side, 36 soldiers, 20 Iraqi Shiite militia brigades Abu Fadl al-Abbas and eight members of National Defense, a pro-regime militia, were killed in the clashes which the powerful Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah also involved.

In addition, five citizen journalists, including three who fight alongside the rebels were killed while covering the battle.

Eastern Ghouta is a region east of Damascus which occurred on August 21 with a chemical attack caused hundreds of deaths and has been attributed to the forces of Bashar al-Assad.

This region is besieged and bombarded for months by government troops, opposition denouncing a catastrophic humanitarian situation for the people trapped in this area. Food, especially milk and bread, in fact succeed in dribs and drabs, according to OSDH.

Having recently taken a series of areas south of the capital, the army focuses on Ghouta, but especially on Qalamoun, a strategic area north of Damascus and the border with Lebanon.

On Tuesday, the army took Qara and the battle continues Yabroud and Deir Attiya.

The recon quests of the region by the troops of Qalamoun system block supply and infiltration of rebels from Lebanon.

The war in Syria, which has killed more than 120,000 people since more than two and a half years, shows no sign of respite while negotiations are ongoing to prepare a peace conference in Geneva.

Initiated in March 2011, revolt, peaceful departure, turned into armed insurrection after the regime has repressed in blood.

Syria: At least 160 dead in two days of fighting near Damascus