Syrian Army, Hezbollah Start Operation to Win Back Strategic Town in Zabadani

The army and the resistance forces started their operations to take control of al-Mazaya town in the Southern parts of Zabadani as the 48-hour ceasefire with the militants ended earlier today.

Ahrar al-Sham terrorist group resumed artillery fire on the two towns of Fuaa and Kafraya with the end of the ceasefire earlier today.

A 48-hour ceasefire had begun at 6a.m. Thursday in several towns in the Northwestern and Western parts of Syria along the border with Lebanon, including Zabadani.

The truce terms included ceasefire in the town of Zabadani in the countryside of Damascus and two Shiite villages of Fuaa and Kafraya in Idlib province.

The ceasefire was announced in Zabadani while the terrorists have been surrounded by the Syrian army and resistance forces one and a half kilometers from the city center.

The local ceasefires happen from time to time in parts of Syria to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered.

On Tuesday, the Army and the Lebanese Hezbollah Resistance Movement, in heavy clashes with the rebels, retook control over various neighborhoods and districts in al-Zabadani, and killed over 32 fighters, informed sources said.

The sources said that the Syrian army’s 63rd Brigade, Hezbollah fighters, the National Defense Forces (NDF), and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP)  stormed on the strongholds of Ahrar al-Sham and al-Nusra Front at the Ajjan Neighborhood, killing 19 rebels and then they recaptured 15 buildings en route to the al-Zabadani Power Station.

In addition to their success near the al-Sultani district, the Syrian Armed Forces and Lebanese Resistance continued their advance inside the Mahata district, killing 13 militants from Ahrar al-Sham and the Liwaa Suqour al-Zabadani, while capturing a number of building blocks near the ‘Umar al-Farouq Mosque.