Thousands of Syrians are fleeing a government-led offensive on the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta enclave near Damascus as President Bashar al-Assad vowed the fight would continue until the “embrace of terrorism” was eradicated.
Syrian government forces have seized roughly one-quarter of the territory in recent days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday. Backed by Russian air power, the Syrian military has advanced on several fronts, retaking control of farms and villages, state media reported.
Government forces seized a number of districts including Al-Nashabiyeh and Otaya and had “eradicated terrorist groups” on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, state media quoted a military source as saying.
They have reached the centre of the besieged enclave to the edge of Beit Sawa, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory. The Central Military Media said Syrian forces reached the outskirts of Mesraba, in central Ghouta.
Rebels were forced to retreat and regroup in Eastern Ghouta because of the Syrian government’s “scorched earth” policy involving heavy artillery fire, air strikes, and helicopter attacks, a spokesman for the Jaish al-Islam rebel group said on Sunday.
Eastern Ghouta, home to some 400,000 people, has been under a crippling siege and daily bombardment for months. More than 600 civilians have been killed in the last two weeks alone.
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