The factions of the south-west of Rif Dimashq shoot a helicopter of the regime forces down in the area near the border with the occupied Golan and the Lebanese border

Rif Dimashq Province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: with the continuation of the military operations in the south-west of Rif Dimashq, between the regime forces backed by armed militiamen loyal to them against Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and the rebel and Islamic factions, following continuous attacks by the regime forces which are accompanied daily by bombardment by the helicopters and the regime forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that a helicopter was targeted by a guided missile, and smoke was seen where the helicopter fell in the south-west of Rif Dimashq, and the destiny of the crew is not known until now, in which the helicopter was flying over the area in a mission to drop explosive barrels, such missions are carried out in the area daily.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published before Thursday 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, and 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, in addition to the injury of tens others with varying severity, while tens fighters of Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham were killed and injured, 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.