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Syria's army, Hezbollah retake more positions in Zabadani

Image released by Syria's official news agency SANA shows an armored vehicle belonging to the Syrian army shelling positions of militants near Damascus.

Syrian forces and fighters of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah have made fresh advances north and east of the border town of Zabadani.

Syria’s official news agency SANA said Tuesday that the allied forces have seized control of at least 11 building blocks from Takfiri militants, facilitating the advance of the Syrian army and Hezbollah forces toward the central parts of the city.

The allied forces are now inching close to Zabadani’s Imam Ali Mosque, further pushing back terrorists to the southern stretches of the city. 

Other reports in the Lebanese media said more militants have surrendered to Hezbollah forces as the siege is being tightened on the terrorists in various parts of Zabadani. The reports said about a dozen major militants, most of them with the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, have surrendered to Hezbollah, according to sources close to the resistance movement.

It is more than six weeks since the joint operation started to liberate Zabadani, a strategic town in Syria’s Rif Dimashq Province and located just 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the capital, Damascus. The city has been used by the militants over the past years for transferring forces and weapons into Syria. The allied forces have recaptured major parts of the city, including its main street, residential blocks in western neighborhoods and the plains surrounding the town.

Meanwhile, Syrian government forces reportedly foiled a major attempt by militants to infiltrate into the city of Dara'a, in Syria’s southwest. SANA said tens of militants, mostly operating for the so-called Jaish al-Yarmuk, were killed during the army offensive into their hideouts on the eastern outskirts of the city. The report said that another attack was carried out on the positions of the Nusra terrorists in the same area.

Syria has been fighting against massive foreign-sponsored militancy since early 2011. The conflict has reportedly killed an estimated 240,000 people so far, including nearly 12,000 children.


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