Syrian Army Breaks Siege of Military Base near Damascus
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Syria’s army managed to break the siege of an army base encircled by terrorist groups on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, the country’s state television reported.
Army elite forces, backed by Russian jets, launched an offensive to break the siege and liberate at least 200 troops who were believed to be trapped within its sprawling, heavily defended grounds.
Extensive bombing and violent clashes were taking place inside and around the base late at night, while the army fought its way to recapture the compound’s buildings, the state TV reporter said during a live broadcast from a nearby location.
“Fighting is underway to expand the route that was opened into the base ... and the army will press on with its offensive beyond liberating the base,” he added.
In the meantime, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said that scores of terrorists were killed or injured in the army clash with Jabhat al-Nusra and other affiliated-Takfiri terrorist elements in Harasta.
Terrorists had stormed the base in Harasta last November in a drive to relieve pressure on Eastern Ghouta’s towns and villages.
The base has long been used by the Syrian army to strike terrorists at the Eastern Ghouta.
Last Sunday, terrorists, mainly belonging to Ahrar al Sham faction of Jabhat al-Nusra, widened their control of parts of the Military Vehicles Administration base in the Eastern Ghouta town of Harasta.
Syria is in the final stages of a battle against Takfiri terrorist groups, which poured into the Arab country after the outbreak of the civil war in 2011.
On November 19, the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group was flushed out of its last stronghold in Syria’s Al-Bukamal. The city’s liberation marked an end to the group’s self-proclaimed caliphate it had declared in 2014.
