“We regained control over 90 percent of Jobar two months ago but for strategic reasons we are intentionally not taking the remaining 10 percent, as we are acting out a ‘keep up defense to attract the enemy’ tactic,” Thabet said.
According to the major general, the aim of this tactic is to have militants from other regions rush to the rescue of those surrounded by the army in the remaining rebel-controlled areas.
“This army trap goes as follows: because of the terrorists who are surrounded in these 10 percent, militants from across Syria send their forces in an attempt to break our seige and help the armed groups who have gotten into the ‘army pot’… Here, they are either ambushed or come under fire,” he said.
The Syrian Army’s plan to regain control of Jobar consists of four stages, Thabet told Sputnik Arabic. The first stage was to surround the area’s perimeter and isolate the militants. Second, the army eliminated the network of underground tunnels dug by rebels and destroyed all sniper positions. The third stage consisted of gradually tightening the encirclement of the area, while the fourth and final stage, which is currently underway, is the total destruction of the insurgents, he explained.
Syrian forces are currently fighting a number of militias formed in the wake of 2011 government protests that became an armed uprising and later a full-fledged civil war. The most dominant insurgent group, Islamic State, has seized vast areas across Syria and Iraq, proclaiming an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.
