AhlulBayt News Agency - Two months ago, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) captured the strategic military airbase of Marj al-Sultan in eastern Damascus and as such, managed to enter lands that have formerly been rebel-held from 2012 onwards. Since then, government forces have made some gains – although minor – by seizing several fields surrounding the airport which has given them a somewhat comfortable buffer zone around the landing strip.
However, according to a military source, the SAA’s 102nd Brigade, the 416th Regiment of the Republican Guard, National Defence Forces and the Palestine Liberation Army have been tasked with attacking even further inside rebel-held areas in east Ghouta (Damascus). More specifically, they are supposed to attack the Agricultural College and Tall Ferzat for strategic reasons which would have them ready to defeat rebels in eastern Damascus once and for all.
Last Tuesday, Al-Masdar News prematurely reported that Tall Ferzat was captured; but this news was untrue and regrettably based off a false report. Nevertheless, the Syrian Arab Army did capture the farms just south of it and have set their eyes upon the hill.
For now, the Agricultural College (i.e Ḩawsh al Matban) is highly fortified by entrenched Islamist rebels; remarkably, the building was actually built by the French during their occupation of Syria nearly a millennium ago. On the other hand, Tall Ferzat holds significant strategic importance as it overlooks all areas in east Ghouta (Damascus); the majority of which is currently controlled by rebel forces.
If the SAA is to take these two sites, it would put government troops in a favorable position to overlook neighbouring areas and fortify the building. Furthermore, such a manuever would have the Syrian Army set for further offensives if the ceasefire, which began a few hours ago, was to be broken by either parties.
While the Syrian ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia does technically promise to halt all warfare inside Syria, it’s unlikely to be upheld since major militias, such as Jabhat al-Nusra and other al-Qaeda affiliates, have not signed the agreement and therefore have no requested their fighters to stop clashes with government troops.
Rebel factions inside Syria’s capital – most notably Jaish al-Islam and Jabhat al-Nusra – are unlikely to surrender these strategic sites as any retreat could very well spell the first vital government step to ending the insurgency and Islamist-imposed religious laws that currently rule in eastern Damascus.
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source : Masdar News
Saturday
27 February 2016
7:58:03 AM
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