Decision to Liberate Eastern Ghouta of Damascus from Terrorist Groups Has Been Taken

Definitely, the decision of liberating the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus from foreign-backed terrorist groups that killed hundreds of innocent civilians in Damascus in mortar and rocket attacks has been adopted by the Syrian military leadership.

The reports circulated about the flow of a large number of Syrian armed forces, that finished their tasks in Hama and Idlib, towards the outskirts of Damascus for the first time since the eruption of the war on Syria confirm that a big military operation is due to be launched against the foreign-backed terrorist groups in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, Basem al-Shehawi, a researcher in political and military affairs told the Syriatimes e-newspaper.

 He said: “Militarily speaking, the movement of the big number of Syrian armed forces towards the outskirt of Damascus was made in accordance with a decision adopted by the Syrian military leadership to carry out a military operation. The forces deployed on the outskirts of Damascus have played key role in liberating the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo city by the end of 2016 and other areas.”

The decision is taken as the armed terrorist groups have not abided by the deals reached in Astana and Cairo talks.

 “The armed terrorist groups in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus have neither disengaged from the terror al-Nusra Front organization [Jabhat al-Nusra] nor stopped firing mortars and rockets on innocent civilians in Damascus where hundreds of persons were killed and wounded. However, the Syrian government has abided by the deals related to entering humanitarian aid to civilians in the said area and not targeting the sites of armed groups there unless the Syrian army’s sites and the capital are attacked by these groups ,” the researcher added.

He made it clear that the negotiations with the armed terrorist groups in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus reached a state of deadlock, referring to the terrorist groups’ attack against the Syrian army’s sites in Harasta few weeks ago.

Three terror groups

“There are three main armed groups in the eastern Ghouta of Damascus: the Saudi-backed Jaish al-Islam- whose main stronghold is Duma city, Jabhat al-Nusra- affiliated armed groups including Faylaq al-Rahman [the al-Rahman Legion] and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham as well as ‘Ahrar al-Sham’ which exist in Jobar and Ein Tarma areas,” he said.

al-Shehawi went on to say: “ The Eastern Ghouta of Damascus enjoys privileged location as it is located near Damascus. It has been occupied by the armed terrorist groups in order to be a launch pad for capturing Damascus. But the failure of all terrorist groups’ incursion attempts into Damascus turned the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus  into a card being used by terrorist groups to put pressure on the Syrian government during talks on political solution”.

Importance of liberating the Eastern Ghouta

Hence, the liberation of the eastern Ghouta of Damascus means delivering a knockout blow to the terror plot not only on the outskirt of Damascus but also in Syria. The Eastern Ghouta of Damascus has been the most important card used by the enemies of Syria.

The Liberation of the said areas will secure Damascus and its surrounding, except Yarmouk Camp and its nearby areas, and will end terror rocket fires against civilians as well as will pave the way for the return of displaced persons to their homes there, according to the researcher, who asserted that the terrorist groups will demand to go to Idlib, if a deal reached there.

The goal of the first stage of the Syrian Arab Army’s military operations in the northern countryside of Hama and in the east-southern countryside of Idlib was to recapture Abu Duhur airbase, while the second stage will be launched as soon as all parties realize that Turkey won’t implement its commitments made in Astana talks, especially fighting al-Nusra Front in Idlib.

“Undoubtedly, the terror groups will do their utmost to hinder the Syrian army’s forthcoming military operation in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus through firing mortars and rockets on civilians in Damascus in order to blackmail the Syrian government. The terror groups had escalated rocket attacks against civilians during the liberation of the eastern neighborhoods in Aleppo city, but those reprisal attacks pushed the Syrian army and allies to liberate the neighborhoods quickly,” al-Shehawi said.

Pre-prepared western fake news

He underscored that the forthcoming military operation against terrorist groups in the eastern Ghouta of Damascus will be coincided – as usual- with a fierce media campaign by the western countries with a view to distorting the image of the Syrian army. These media campaigns will claim that the Syrian army perpetrates massacres, destroy hospitals, use chemical weapons…etc. ‘

The researcher affirmed that Israel and the west will commit folly if they try to be involved in a direct confrontation with Syrian army and allies to protect the mercenaries in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, especially after the downing of Israeli fighter jet by the Syrian army few days ago. 

“Like the other battles waged by the Syrian army, the forthcoming battle in the eastern Ghouta of Damascus aims to eliminate terrorism that poses threat to all humanity all over the world. So I think that Syria’s allies will take part in the military operation against terrorist groups in the eastern Ghouta of Damascus,” al-Shehawi concluded.

Up till now, no official statement was made about the start of the military operation against terrorist groups.

Interviewed by: Basma Qaddour