Syrian army announces foiling rebels' 2nd attack wave on Damascus

The Syrian army announced Friday capturing all positions lost to the rebels during their second wave of attacks, which started on Tuesday, state news agency SANA reported.

The army succeeded to capture all positions that had been infiltrated by the rebels in the northern part of the rebel-held neighborhood of Jobar in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus.

The factories area, on the frontline between the government-controlled areas east of Damascus and rebel-held areas in Jobar and the rest of Ghouta, was "the graveyard for several waves of attacks by the terrorists," according to the military statement.

Moreover, the elite forces of the Syrian army are hunting down the remnants of the fleeing militants of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in the depth of Jobar, the statement added.

The rebels of the Nusra Front and likeminded groups unleashed a wide-scale offensive on eastern Damascus on Sunday, prompting intense battles with the Syrian government forces, and renewed their attack on Tuesday.

The aim of the rebel attack was to break the government forces' siege on the rebel in the Qaboun neighborhood.

Reports said the Syrian air force struck position of the rebels inside Ghouta to push the rebels to retreat from the frontline.

Observers believe the rebel attacks aimed to pressure the Syrian government into giving concessions during the current round of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva. 

source: Xinhua