Syrian army kills 30 rebels near Damascus

Syrian army kills 30 rebels near Damascus

Syrian army had killed 30 militants in a fierce battle in the small town , Yabroud , north of Damascus on Saturday battle , according to the official SANA news agency .

Saturday's attack was the latest in a series of military operations " quality " that has killed more than 230 militants in the past week , Xinhua reported Sunday .

In mid-February , the Syrian military to launch a major offensive to retake Yabroud , with control of the surrounding area before urged into the city itself . But this time , the battle is still raging around Yabroud .

Yabroud , about 80 kilometers north of Damascus , is seen as an important stronghold of armed militants because of its location on the slopes of the mountains in the region near Qalamoun and Small Town Ersal in Lebanon , where rebels gaining weapons and medical care .

In addition , the town has steep slopes and ancient caves - which gives insurgents a sanctuary from government air raid .

Many military experts told the master Yabroud , government forces can secure the international road linking Damascus with the Syrian province of Homs in central and several provinces in the Mediterranean coast .

With control of the town , military Damascus could also prevent the flow of car bombs in Lebanon - the neighbors .

Open road toward Ersal Yabroud has facilitated freight cars filled with explosives into the territory of neighboring Syria , the capital, Beirut , has recently been rocked by a series of suicide car bombings .

The attack was directed into several camps Lebanese Shi'ite guerrilla group Hezbollah , a group whose members are fighting fighters with ties to al -Qaeda with the Syrian army in the middle of the country .

A total of 17 people including women and children injured on Friday ( 28/2 ) , when two mortar shells hit the area in the east of Damascus , according to the official Syrian news agency , SANA .

The mortar shells landed in the Roundabout Al - Baitara and Bab Sharqi district in Damascus , SANA said . He added that the girl was in critical condition as a result of the attack , which also cause property damage and make a lot of cars on fire .

The attack , the most recent in a series of mortar attacks launched by insurgents on the outskirts of Damascus , occurred as thousands of Syrian pro - government march in Mazzeh district in western Damascus in support of Syrian President Bashar al - Assad .

Mortar attacks have become part of the daily events in Syria , particularly in Damascus , when insurgents hope that such tactics would undermine the stability of the Syrian capital , which is heavily guarded .

The Syrian government reached out to the opposition fighters in an effort to alleviate the suffering of other families who lost their homes and as a step towards permanent solutions for the three - year crisis in the country .

The conflict has killed more than 100,000 people and made ​​9.3 million people in Syria and more than two million people outside the country are in need of humanitarian assistance .