The Syrian army today said it had seized the last rebel-held district of the capital Damascus as insurgents in the strategic northern city of Aleppo came under heavy bombardment by regime forces.
The army said it had retaken the hold-out rebel district of Tadamun in Damascus, a day after the United Nations
deplored the failure of diplomacy to end a conflict that has reportedly claimed more than 21,000 lives in nearly 17 months.
A brigadier general who refused to give his name told journalists visiting the neighbourhood of Tadamun, the scene of heavy fighting earlier, that it has been retaken, and that the military controls all of the capital.
“We have cleansed all the districts of Damascus, from Al-Midan to Mazzeh, from Al-Hajar Al-Aswad to Qadam… to
Tadamun,” said the officer. He said it was the last rebel bastion in the capital to be retaken.
“There is no more presence of armed groups apart for some individuals who are moving from one place to another, just to prove that they exist,” he said.
Fighting erupted in Damascus on July 15 and raged for several days as rebels seized several districts, forcing
thousands of residents to flee.
In Aleppo, Abdel Jabar Oqaida, commander of the Free Syrian Army there, said the Salaheddin district had “come
under the heaviest bombardment since the battle began” on July 20 but that loyalists had “not managed to advance.”
In what is also a war of words, a senior government security figure said “the battle for Aleppo has not yet begun, and what is happening now is just the appetizer.”
“The main course will come later,” he warned. More than a week ago, a pro-government newspaper was already proclaiming what was to be the “mother of all battles” in Aleppo.
And earlier this week, a security official said troops were “testing the terrorists’ defence systems before
annihilating them by carrying out a surgical operation.”
————————————(AFP)