Sources said that the allied forces advanced in the city’s west toward the downtown, taking control of al-Jisr Mosque and the neighboring buildings, the Lebanese al-Manar news channel reported on Monday.
The report also said that the forces killed and injured a number of terrorists, dismantling many explosive devices that had been planted by militants in the mosque.
A highly strategic town in Syria’s Rif Dimashq Province, Zabadani has been a major stronghold of militant groups. Syrian army control over the town would entirely cut off the supply lines used by the militants for transferring ammunition and forces into areas near the Syrian capital, Damascus, while it would also secure the highway connecting the Syrian capital to Beirut in Lebanon.
Since March 2001, Syria has been grappling with a militancy sponsored by foreign governments, including Turkey, the United States and some regional Arab allies. The crisis has left nearly 230,000 people dead.
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