Helicopters continue shelling the southwestern countryside of Rif Dimashq and the regime forces managed to advance in hills in the area and rebel attacks the factions to restore areas they lost

Rif Dimashq – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights:: a woman was killed and 4 others were injured with different severity as a result of fall of shells on places in Darbal area controlled by the regime forces in the southwestern Rif Dimashq, in conjunction with ongoing clashes between the regime forces and their allied militiamen against the rebel and Islamic factions and Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham in areas in Tel Bardaia, which the regime forces managed to control large parts of it, and there is information that they managed to control the remaining part of the hill, with the support of heavy and violent air cover of shelling by helicopters and missiles believed to be ground-to-ground and artillery and missiles shelling, and the SOHR learned that the factions started their rebel attack in an attempt to restore what they lost in the area.

The SOHR published in the past hours that the intensity of the clashes has escalated during the past 72 hours, in an attempt by the regime forces to advance and control more areas southwest of Rif Dimashq, also the regime’s helicopters dropped today at least 26 barrel bombs on Beit Jinn farm, al-Dahr al-Aswad, Tal Marwan, Mughr al-Meer, in conjunction with the intense shelling of shells and missiles believed to be ground-to-ground causing more destruction. These violent clashes and the escalation of shelling come as a continuation of the aerial bombardments which has almost ended its 10th consecutive week of intense artillery and aerial bombardment, where the helicopters have dropped during this period more than 750 barrel bombs on the southwestern of Rif Dimashq, along with hundreds of missiles believed to be ground-to-ground, hundreds of artillery, mortar and tank shells on villages, towns, farms and hills of the southwest of Rif Dimashq, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented the death of tens of fighters during the clashes, also tens of members of the regime forces were killed in the same clashes.

In early November the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published that the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights received information from intersected sources that the regime forces are making military preparations to carry out a massive attack on the besieged southwest of Rif Dimashq, in order to control the areas that are controlled by the factions, and the preparations came after an attack that took place on the 3rd of November  2017, started by detonating a booby trapped vehicle in Hodr town, followed by a violent attack by the factions during which they managed to connect their controlled areas in southwest of Rif Dimashq with their controlled areas in the northern countryside of Quneitra, then after hours the regime forces broke that corridor and re-besieged the southwest of Rif Dimashq, where the violent clashes, the bombings and the accompanying shelling have killed at least 20 members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them, and also killed 11 fighters including 3 leaders and a member of Tunisian nationality, in addition to the injury of tens of civilians, fighters and members.

The sources also confirmed to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that this operation is led by a prominent officer in the ranks of the regime forces, who had a major role in the operations of re-controlling the neighborhoods east of the capital Damascus, and in the operations east of Damascus and in the Eastern Ghouta and other operations in Rif Dimashq

This process also comes as a continuation for the operations of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities and Hezbollah, witnessed by Al-Qalamoun during the past months, the latest of which was against Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham and its allied Islamic factions, and also against the “Islamic State” organization in the western Qalamoun in the northwest of Rif Dimashq, which ended with displacements for thousands of civilians and members of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham, the factions and the “Islamic State” organization to the Syrian north and Deir Ezzor Province.