Fighters of the Free Syrian Army have pressed on with their offensive to break the siege on the districts of Qaboun and Barza in eastern Damascus. Dozens of airstrikes and a barrage of artillery shelling by regime forces and their allies have so far failed to reverse the FSA and rebel gains.
Activists on Tuesday said that the FSA and rebel groups have reached the Fares Khoury Street, adding that they are now pushing towards the Abbassiyen Bus Station as part of the second phase of the offensive they launched on Sunday.
The FSA and rebel offensive came in response to continued truce violations by the Assad regime and its allies and the massed forced displacement operations they have carried out across Syria, including most recently in the AlWaer neighborhood in Homs.
Activists pointed out that regime forces and their allied foreign militias have so far suffered at least 100 casualties. The Assad regime had to bring in troops from other fronts to repel the attack.
Experts said that the recent fighting in the capital Damascus have exposed the military weakness of the Assad regime and the extent of its reliance on the Iranian-backed militias to survive. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)