‘Damascus awaits you’
Syrian rebels said they have started to surround government-held Damascus after seizing towns close by on Saturday, as the defence ministry denied the army had fled positions near the capital.
Rebel commander Hassan Abdel Ghani, with the Islamist-led alliance that launched the offensive in the country’s northwest, said “our forces have begun the final phase of encircling the capital, Damascus”. The ministry said “there is no truth to news claiming our armed forces, present in all areas of the Damascus countryside, have withdrawn.”
Earlier, Rami Abdel Rahman who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said “regime forces pulled out of towns in the southwestern Damascus countryside, 10 kilometres from the capital Damascus, which have been seized by local fighters.”
Rebel commander Hassan Abdel Ghani, with the Islamist-led alliance that launched the offensive in the country’s northwest, said that “our forces were able to control the Saasaa (security) branch in the Damascus countryside. The advance towards the capital continues”.