Jihadists and Syrian rebels announce the start of the “final stage” of operations to surround Damascus

MADRID Dec. 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The alliance of jihadists and Syrian rebels that has been advancing inexorably from the northwest of the country against the forces of President Bashar al Assad for ten days has announced this Saturday the beginning of the “final stage” of its operations to surround the country’s capital, Damascus, while local observers place opposition forces just ten kilometers from the city.

“Our forces have begun to launch the final stage of the siege of the capital. Damascus awaits us,” announced the leader of the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham and leader of the offensive, Abu Mohamed al Golani.

Although the Army has denied that its forces are withdrawing from the towns closest to the country’s capital — the military speaks of a “false media campaign” and guarantees that they remain in their positions in the so-called Damascus countryside — the Observatory Syrian for Human Rights assures in its latest assessment that the HTS is already in the town of Artuz, ten kilometers from the capital, and that opposition forces in the province of Deraa, south of Damascus, are also approaching to the capital.

The Syrian Army, on the other hand, maintains that it continues to fight against opposition forces in the northwest of the country, specifically in the province of Homs, to prevent the advance of the rebels towards the north of the capital. Similarly, the Ministry of Defense has also denied information that pointed to the possible mass desertion of its forces in the south of the country towards Iraq through the Al Qaim crossing.

“Our forces in the southern region are carrying out a deployment in accordance with military plans and orders,” the Army has assured, using a euphemism that it has used since the beginning of this campaign every time it withdraws from these positions.

“All these movements are normal and fall within the framework of the Armed Forces, which is what enemy circles are trying to twist to spread rumors among citizens,” the Ministry added on its Facebook page.