BEIRUT: Syrian forces shelled the last pockets in Damascus controlled by the IS group, preparing the ground for a possible assault on the rebel stronghold, a monitor said on Wednesday.
After fully retaking the Eastern Ghouta region on the edge of the capital, Syria has turned its attention to other areas across the country that still escape its control.
Among them are neighbourhoods in southern Damascus from which many civilians have fled but are still held by IS, including the Yarmuk area that hosts a Palestinian refugee camp.
“Syrian forces shelled several IS positions in Yarmuk camp and Hajar al Aswad, killing one person and wounded several others,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Both sides had traded fire the previous night, the Britain-based monitor said, causing at least five deaths, most of them Syrian soldiers.
“The regime is turning up the heat ahead of a big assault that would break IS’s back and force them to evacuate the area,” the head of the Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, said.
IS still has a presence in Yarmuk, and the neighbouring areas of Hajar al Aswad, Tadamon and Qadam.
Yarmuk used to be the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, with a population of 160,000, but only a few thousand people remain inside the devastated area. The Syrian army and its allies have focused their efforts on securing Damascus lately, and earlier this month announced their recapure of Eastern Ghouta, a sprawling suburb of the capital.
Ghouta had been the opposition’s main bastion outside Damascus, but Syrian forces fully secured it after a blistering two-month assault that ended in negotiated rebel withdrawals.
The state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday that a deal had also been reached for rebels to quit Dumayr, a town further to the east, where a reconciliation agreement had kept a security status quo since 2016.
It said on Wednesday fighters from the Jaish rebel faction were continuing to hand over their heavy and intermediate weapons in Dumayr ahead of their departure to the northern town of Jarabulus.
SANA said a total of 5,000 people including 1,500 rebels were expected to leave the town. Talks were ongoing for the nearby towns of Nasiriya and Jayrud to reach a similar agreement, according to the Observatory.
Shelling slammed into both of those towns on Wednesday, the monitor said, describing the bombardment as an effort by the government to pressure residents and rebels to agree to a withdrawal.
Meanwhile, the RIA news agency reported, citing the foreign ministry, said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will hold talks with the United Nation’s Syria peace envoy Staffan de Mistura on Friday.
“I confirm that these talks are planned for Friday,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
De Mistura is conducting an intensive round of talks with world powers with a view to relaunching stalled peace talks between Damascus and the armed opposition, his office said in Geneva.
De Mistura, fresh from attending the League of Arab states summit in Riyadh was meeting senior Turkish officials in Ankara on Wednesday before heading to Moscow and Tehran for consultations with senior officials, the statement said.
The UN envoy also expects to meet European ministers and US officials at a Brussels conference on Syria set for April 24-25 before briefing the UN Security Council, it added.
The last round of Geneva talks was held in December, followed by Vienna talks in late January. — Agencies
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
