Syrian Army wins back all lost turf in east Damascus, gears up for counter-offensive

Upon reaching out to an exclusive military source in Damascus, Al-Masdar News has obtained new information regarding Tuesday’s Islamist offensive in the Harasta sector in the eastern part of the capital city.

After losing control of two points on the perimeter of the ‘Armored Vehicle Base’ in the morning hours, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) managed to retake the ‘Electric checkpoint’ and ’46th Base Storage Area’ in the late afternoon.

The offensive was initiated by Ahrar Al-Sham, Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and Failaq Al-Rahman (FSA) whom had joined forces to lead the assault from each their flank.

The military source said that at least 10 SAA soldiers were killed-in-action (KIA) but insisted that the jihadist belligerents had sustained double as many casualties. He added that most of the corpses were scattered in no man’s land.

With all Islamist gains rolled back, clashes calmed down on Tuesday evening with only sporadic gunfire taking place between the warring parties overnight.

The source added that SAA commanders were angered by what they called a breach of the UN-brokered de-escalation agreement and vowed to retaliate militarily against hostile jihadist factions based in the East Ghouta.