Government Forces Gain Control Of al-Mleiha

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wpid-syrian-rebels-with-a-captured-policeman-300x208.jpgSyrian government forces Thursday captured a major Damascus suburb from rebel forces after months of fierce fighting, an opposition watchdog said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that government forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters had gained “almost complete” control of al-Mleiha, routing Islamist fighters and the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front.

The town, in the rebel-dominated eastern Ghouta area, has been under siege by regime forces for more than a year.

The Syrian army, in a statement carried by the official SANA news agency, said it had “restored security and stability in the town of al-Mleiha and surrounding farmland.”

The main rebel group in the region, the Army of Islam, denied that the town had fallen.

The fall of al-Mleiha would be the second major setback for Syrian rebels in as many days, after jihadists of the Islamic State (IS) captured towns in northern Syria on Wednesday, threatening rebel supply lines between Aleppo city and Turkey.

The capture of the town is also important for the regime forces because it would prevent rebel shelling of the road leading to Damascus airport, Observatory director Rami Abdel-Rahman said.
GNA
PDC

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