BEIRUT: Syrian warplanes hammered opposition-held neighborhoods of Damascus on Monday after regime forces pushed back a surprise assault that saw opposition try to fight their way into the city center.
The opposition, led by former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh Al-Sham Front, launched an attack early Sunday on regime positions in east Damascus, initially scoring key gains.
But forces loyal to President Bashar Assad drove them back by nightfall and began a fierce bombing campaign on Monday morning.
“There have been intense air strikes since dawn on opposition-held positions in Jobar from which the offensive was launched,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“The government and allied forces have retaken the initiative and are striking the groups that launched yesterday’s assault,” he added.
Abdel Rahman said it was unclear whether regime forces or their Russian allies were carrying out Monday’s raids on Jobar.
Control of Jobar — which has been a battleground for more than two years — is divided between the opposition and the regime.
On Sunday, opposition fighters seized several buildings in Jobar before advancing into the neighboring Abbasid Square area — the first time in two years that the opposition had advanced so close to the capital’s center.
The clashes left dead at least 26 regime forces and 21 opposition and jihadists, Abdel Rahman said, but he did not have an immediate toll for Monday morning’s air strikes.
Sniper fire and air strikes were heard across the city on Sunday as civilians cowered inside their homes and schools announced they would close because of the violence.
But by Monday, the front line had been pushed back, and AFP correspondents said activity in the typically bustling Abbasid Square was returning to normal levels.
Airplanes could still be heard circling above but many of the roads that had been sealed off by army troops the previous day were reopened.
According to the Observatory, regime forces managed to recapture most of the territory overrun by the opposition in their assault.
Opposition forces still controlled several key points in an industrial zone lying between Jobar and the besieged northeastern district of Qabun to the north, according to the Britain-based monitor.
State news agency SANA said Syrian regime troops were targeting opposition bases around Jobar on Monday.
“The military operations north of Jobar targeted the areas from which the terrorists set out, and a large number of them were killed,” it said.
The Islamist Faylaq Al-Rahman opposition group and the Fateh Al-Sham Front — known as Al-Nusra Front before it renounced its ties to Al-Qaeda — have a presence in Jobar.
Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011 with protests against Assad’s rule but has morphed over the years into a complex civil war.
More than 320,000 people have been killed and millions more have been displaced by the conflict.
‘Intense’ strikes pound east Damascus after opposition assault
‘Intense’ strikes pound east Damascus after opposition assault
Supplies running out at Syria’s Al-Hol camp as clashes block aid deliveries
DAMASCUS: An international humanitarian organization has warned that supplies are running out at a camp in northeast Syria housing thousands of people linked to the Daesh group, as the country’s government fights to establish control over an area formerly controlled by Kurdish fighters.
The late Friday statement by Save the Children came a week after government forces captured Al-Hol camp, which is home to more than 24,000 people, mostly children and women, including many wives or widows of Daesh members.
The capture of the camp came after intense fighting earlier this month between government forces and members of the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces during which forces loyal to interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa captured wide areas in eastern and northeastern Syria.
The SDF signed a deal to end the fighting after suffering major defeats, but sporadic clashes between it and the government have continued.
Save the Children said that “critical supplies in Al-Hol camp are running dangerously low” as clashes are blocking the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.
It added that last week’s clashes around the camp forced aid agencies to temporarily suspend regular operations at Al-Hol. It added that the main road leading to the camp remains unsafe, which is preventing humanitarian workers from delivering food and water or running basic services for children and families.
“The situation in Al-Hol camp is rapidly deteriorating as food, water and medicines run dangerously low,” said Rasha Muhrez, Save the Children Syria country director. “If humanitarian organizations are unable to resume work, children will face still more risks in the camp, which was already extremely dangerous for them before this latest escalation.”
Muhrez added that all parties to the conflict must ensure a safe humanitarian corridor to Al-Hol so basic services can resume and children can be protected. “Lives depend on it,” she said.
The SDF announced a new agreement with the central government on Friday, aiming to stabilize a ceasefire that ended weeks of fighting and lay out steps toward integrating the US-backed force into the army and police forces.
