Étiqueté : Ghouta

Syrian government forces have retaken the town of Douma, thus gaining full control of the former rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta, according to a Russian military official. Syrian troops pushed the last rebel fighters out of Douma on Thursday, Major-General Yury Yevtushenko, head of Russia’s Centre for Syrian Reconciliation, told local news media. « Today, a landmark event…

Alaa al-Khamooneh, a mathematics teacher in Douma, Eastern Ghouta’s largest city, was forced to take his profession underground in the last month to avoid bombs and aerial attacks. Since the Syrian and Russian offensive on the largely agricultural region began on February 18, the 35-year-old has been part of a teaching initiative that aims to…

Syrian government forces are preparing to launch a « huge » military operation to capture Douma, the last remaining rebel stronghold in Eastern Ghouta, according to local media. The government-affiliated al-Watan newspaper reported on Wednesday that troops were dispatched around the town, which is largely controlled by the Jaish al-Islam rebel group. The mobilisation was preparation of…

Syrian government forces are close to taking full control of Eastern Ghouta, the last rebel-held area near the capital, Damascus. Two out of three rebel groups that had been controlling the enclave have already surrendered, with thousands of fighters and their relatives departing for opposition-held areas in the north of the country. The third rebel group,…

Hundreds of opposition fighters and their families have been evacuated from the town of Harasta in the eastern part of Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, according to Syrian state media.  Sana, the official Syrian news agency, said at least six buses carrying the evacuees are heading to Idlib province in Syria’s north, which is an area under…