"Paying the price of the blood of our heroes who perished, and in coordinated efforts with our allied forces, we have managed to liberate dozens of settlements and villages in Eastern Ghouta… a total of 70 percent of the territory seized by terrorist groups," the Syrian army command said in a statement.
Government forces are continuing to advance in the area, and recently liberated the town of Jisreen, in addition to the city of Hamouriyah.
“After sweeping out the surrounding farmlands and defusing the landmines, IEDs and all terrorists’ defenses, the storming units succeeded in establishing full control over the town [Jisreen],” a military source reported to Syrian media.
In a bid to retake Hamouriyah, Islamist militants launched a counter-attack, but were successfully repelled by the Syrian Army.
East #Ghouta: #SAA free Ar Rayhan from "rebels" v @sayed_ridha pic.twitter.com/CFrhGx7TyT
— Emmanuel (@EmmanuelGMay) March 16, 2018
#Syria #EasternGhouta Footage of the #SAA, the liberation of #Hamouriyahhttps://t.co/jAntmxWfsk pic.twitter.com/OMqlwRqVhy
— Melissa (@BlissNjoy) March 16, 2018
While whole western world is preoccupied by fabricated Russian poisoning of British ex-spy #SAA heroes are quietly with allies help kicking western backed terrorists out of #Eastern_Ghouta 👏👏🇸🇾👍 https://t.co/E6Hs69Z1HW
— peter pobjecky — #FBPR (@peterpobjecky) March 16, 2018
Bugün, Doğu Guta'dan#Syria #EasternGhouta #EastGhouta #Ghouta #SAA #SyrianArabArmy #SyrianArmy #TigerForces #Tigers #Freedom
Today, from Eastern Ghouta
— ORTA DOĞU GÜNCESİ (@OrtaDoguGuncesi) March 16, 2018
🇸🇾✌️ pic.twitter.com/YfHQbfMYD1
READ MORE: WATCH Syrian Army Cracks Down on Terrorists in Eastern Ghouta
According to the latest reports, the Syrian troops have already liberated more than half of the area, which jihadists have controlled control since 2012. It is known that 10,000 to 12,000 militants are to be somewhere in the area.
Eastern Ghouta was occupied by anti-government Islamist extremists in 2012. After the recent UN resolution, the fighting in the area didn't abate, even when the humanitarian pause was in place, the Russian Defense Ministry said. As militants constantly target all exits from the enclave, civilians cannot leave the area safely.
