The Syrian army is fighting with extremist groups on Tuesday near the Abbasid square in eastern Damascus after they managed to enter and gain a foothold at the territory of an old bus station in the suburbs of Jobar.
Al-Nusra Front, now known as Jabhat Fath Al-Sham, re-entered a major road junction in the Jobar district leading into the heart of Damascus while the army was reportedly bombing their positions.
Jobar separates Eastern Ghouta, which holds large concentrations of Takfiri terrorists, from Damascus. But the road which divides the bus station and Abbasid square is still controlled by the government forces.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported fierce clashes between army forces and militants in the strategic area.
“There was a big blast at dawn, most likely due to a car bomb attack by the rebels against a regime position between the districts of Jobar and Qabun,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the pro-militant monitoring group.
Earlier in the day, the Syrian government troops repelled several attacks by al-Nusra Front in Jobar municipality. Meanwhile, militants shelled the Barzeh neighborhood northeast of Damascus.
On Monday, the Syrian army said it had recaptured all the areas in northeastern Damascus lost after a surprise militant attack a day earlier.
The intensity of the Syrian army’s counterattack forced the militants to withdraw from most of the areas they captured that day.
The military operation against positions controlled by al-Nusra Front began on December 24 after the militants refused to lay down their weapons and vacate the area.
Source: Agencies
