Syrian regime forces launched heavy missiles on Jobar

Syrian regime forces carried out heavy missiles shelling on the area of Jobar – Ayn Tarma, in the outskirts of al-Rahman Legion-held Eastern Ghouta, in the capital of Syria, Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Sunday.

SOHR revealed that the Syrian regime forces fired missiles on the area of Jobar – Ayn Tarma, in the outskirts of the Eastern Ghouta, while added that the shelling was accompanied by heavy machineguns fire by the regime forces on the same areas. Meanwhile, clashes continued between the al-Rahman Legion militants and the regime forces and their allied militias in the area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, yesterday, that the regime forces also shelled the outskirts of the city of Ayn Tarma and other areas in Jobar neighborhood, east of the capital of Syria, Damascus, while carried out extensive assaults to secure their advance into the area.

The ongoing clashes are concentrated in al-Masher front and other areas, while other clashes took place in the vicinity of Jober neighborhood and Ayn Tarma Town; in the meantime, the regime forces conducted heavy shelling on the al-Rahman Legion-held areas, the SOHR added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented that the Syrian regime forces launched more than 30 artillery shelling on Jobar neighborhood and its outskirts, in addition to Ayn Tarma, while also fired 12 missiles on several areas in the same neighborhood and carried another shelling on an area in Hamoriya Town and Haza Town, leaving 7 civilian casualties.

In the same context, At least 50 people, including 20 children, have been killed in Russian airstrikes and artillery attacks on eastern Syria since Friday, AFP said, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The shelling targeted areas along the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzor province, including two camps for the internally displaced, according to AFP. A number of airstrikes on Sunday targeted river crossings around the town of Boukamal, which was recaptured by ISIS from government forces on Saturday.

“Five civilians, including two children, were killed in the strikes on Al-Soussa crossing about 5km [3 miles] east of Albu Kamal,” the head of the SOHR told AFP, giving an alternative name for Boukamal. “Six civilians were killed in raids on another river crossing 20km [12.5 miles] north of the town,” he added.

In Boukamal, The so-called Islamic State recaptured its last stronghold in Syria on Saturday, only two days after the Syrian government declared victory over the militant group, Agence France-Presse reported.

Citing the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), AFP said that pro-government forces, including Iraqi militias and the Lebanese Hezbollah, retreated from the town of Boukamal, near the Iraqi border, after clashes with ISIS militants.

“Regime forces and allied militia are now between 1 to 2 km [0.6–1.2 miles] from the city limits,” Rami Abdulrahman, head of the SOHR, told AFP. The pullout comes after ISIS carried out a string of attacks on government forces that had earlier announced the capture of the town.

According to Reuters, militants were hiding in tunnels in the heart of the city. They “began surprise attacks with suicide bombers and rocket attacks after the Iranian militias were duped that Daesh had left the city,” Qahtan Ghanam al-Ali, a tribal leader, told Reuters using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

The Syrian government on Thursday said that ISIS was defeated after militants were believed to have retreated from the town.

On political side, Russia and the U.S. issued a joint presidential statement on Saturday affirming the need for a political solution to the Syrian conflict, Reuters reported.

The joint statement was released after U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin met briefly on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam.

Beyond saying there was no military solution for the conflict, the statement also “pledged to continue ‘de-confliction’ to ensure the U.S. and Russian militaries do not clash … and pledged new support for the U.N.-backed ‘Geneva process,’ which has failed to find a political solution to end the conflict,” Reuters said.

In a separate report, Reuters said that Putin and Trump also agreed to expand a cease-fire in southwestern Syria, near the Israeli and Jordanian borders, brokered earlier in July.

An unidentified U.S. State Department official told Reuters that Moscow has agreed “to work with the Syrian regime to remove Iranian-backed forces a defined distance” from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.