Damascus back under spotlight following major rebel attack

DAMASCUS, March 20 (NsNewsWire) — The capital Damascus has returned under the spotlight on Sunday with the rebels launching a large-scale offensive led by the the al-Qaida-linked militants against Syrian army positions and residential areas in the eastern part of the city.

Sunday’s offensive began at 5:00 am when the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and allied militant groups sent three suicide car bombs, targeting military positions at the outskirts of the rebel-held Jobar neighborhood in the eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus, reports Xinhua.

The first suicide car bomb was driven by a Saudi man called Abu Obaida al-Jazrawi, who managed to detonate his car at a military post. The second car was ridden by a Syrian called Abu Faruq al-Qalamouni, but the army targeted the car and detonated it.

The bombing sounds rattled the capital’s residents and woke them up to the violent battles that ensued.

The rebels unleashed their attacks from Jobar on military positions from two directions; the first on the Maysaloun checkpoint at the entrance of Jobar, where they detonated the first car, and failed to detonate the other that was targeted by the army.

The second was from Jobar on the government forces’ positions at the outskirts of the rebel-held neighborhood of Qaboun, where they detonated a car bomb, after which a number of rebels succeeded to infiltrate toward Syrian army positions.

The rebels captured several buildings that government forces were controlling on the frontline between Jobar and the government-controlled areas in Abbasiyeen area.

Residents in Abbasiyeen and the nearby areas of Tijara, Bab Touma, Qassa, Halab Street, and Fares Khouri Street, said the Syrian soldiers fanned out in the streets, which are close to the battle lines to repel the rebel offensive.

A man from Fares Khouri told Xinhua the street was apparently exposed to the rebel sniper fire, adding that the Syrian soldiers were deploying quickly to contain the offensive.

Residents in Tijara remained in their homes, and couldn’t leave due to the intensity of battles, which were coupled with heavy mortar shelling, and explosive bullets coming from the rebel side.

Amal, a Syrian lawyer, told Xinhua that the soldiers asked them to stay indoor for their safety.