DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – The Syrian army and its allies are on the verge of completely seizing the terrorist-held district of Qaboun on the edge of the capital Damascus following over two months of aerial strikes and artillery shelling, terrorists and state media said on Sunday.
The neighborhood lies in the northeastern edge of the capital that has been mostly reduced to rubble after around 80 days in which it was struck by hundreds of aerial strikes and missiles.
The army had resumed its intensive bombardment in the district on Wednesday after a one-day ultimatum it gave the terrorists mainly drawn from the area to surrender and agree to evacuate to terrorist-held areas in northern Syria.
Hundreds of terrorists and their families had been evacuated this week from the adjacent Barzeh district after terrorists there decided to lay down their arms and leave to Idlib province. They included some from Qaboun.
There were unconfirmed reports from a local source in the district that an agreement had been reached to evacuate the terrorists from Qaboun. About 1,500 terrorists and their families are now trapped in a nearly one square kilometer zone.
A news bulletin on state television said evacuations had begun, quoting the governor of Damascus. No other details were provided on the numbers.
The development came after Syrian government forces managed to retake a military air base in the country’s northern province of Aleppo from Daesh terrorists as they continue to score territorial gains against the extremists across the country.
The director of the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said Syrian troopers could establish control over the small al-Jarrah airport on Saturday after heavy fighting with Daesh members.
"The majority of the extremists have withdrawn, and government forces are carrying out clearing operations in the airport and engaged in limited clashes with remaining Daesh elements,” he added.
A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the recapture of the base.
"The Syrian army has completed its capture of Jarrah airport and a number of the surrounding villages,” he said.
"It will continue its advances into the areas held by the terrorist organization and ... expand the areas it controls in eastern Aleppo Province,” the source pointed out.
Syrian government forces also uncovered a strategically important chain of tunnels and trenches, which foreign-sponsored terrorists used to transport ammunition, food, water, and armor in the area.
Syria has been battling foreign-backed terrorism since March 2011. United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated last August that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the crisis until then.