The Syrian military has pushed militants with the rebel Free Syrian Army out of the southern Damascus’ region of Daraya, official state news agency SANA said on Monday.
The advance has successfully completed an operation to clear the southern neighborhoods of the Syrian capital of militants. Now military has turned its focus on the eastern part of the city, which is still being claimed by militants.
“Armed clashes between government forces and the opposition are taking place in all of the northeastern neighborhoods of Damascus. The clashes are accompanied by artillery bombardment,” Libyan TV channel Al-Mayadin said.
The Free Syrian Army on Monday claimed it had shot down a government military helicopter near Damascus, and posted a video on YouTube of the chopper going down in flames.
In a phone conversation with RIA Novosti, a resident of the eastern Damascus’ district of Kabun who requested anonymity confirmed the report. “The sound of shooting and exploding shells never stops. In the morning a Syrian army helicopter crashed not far from my house, near the Al-Gufan Mosque. This happened in front of our eyes: it caught fire and struck the ground. People say that rebels with the Free Syrian Army put it out of action.”
The man is remaining in the district out of fear looters may ransack his home. “It’s still possible to live here. There is electricity and tap water. The food situation is much worse. Most of the shops are closed. Only a grocery and a greengrocery are operating in our neighborhood. There are dairy products and canned foods there. There’s no meat. It’s quite difficult to buy bread,” the man said.
Al-Mayadin said that several militants on Monday infiltrated from the eastern city districts into the central Christian district of Bab Tuma and the adjacent district of Jaramana. Additional government forces have been sent to these parts of the city to tackle the problem.
Violent clashes are also going on in Syria’s large cities of Aleppo and Homs. Footage televised by Al-Mayaddin shows that several districts of Homs have almost been ruined.
Since it began with anti- president Bashar al-Assad regime demonstrations in March 2011, the Syrian conflict has escalated into a full-scale civil war that has claimed up to 20,000 lives, according to estimates by various Syrian opposition groups.
