Terrorists, Syrian troops clash near holy shrine of Hazrat Zeinab (AS)

Foreign-backed militants in Syria have clashed with members of the Syrian army near the shrine of Hazrat Zeinab (AS) south of Damascus.

Syrian state television said on Wednesday that the government troops managed to push the militants out of a neighborhood called al-Bahdaliya near the holy shrine.

The militants also claimed that they took control of a hospital in a village south of the neighborhood.

The shrine is located 16 kilometers (10 miles) south of the capital. Hazrat Zeinab (AS) is the daughter of the first Shia Imam, Imam Ali (PBUH), and Hazrat Fatemeh (PBUH) — Prophet Mohammad’s daughter.

In May, foreign-sponsored militants desecrated the shrine of Hujr ibn Adi — a close companion (sahaba) of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and a staunch supporter of Imam Ali (PBUH) — in a northeastern suburb of Damascus, exhumed his body, and took it to an unknown location.

The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

Damascus says the West and its regional allies, such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, are supporting the militants.

In an interview broadcast on Turkish television in April, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that if the militants take power in Syria, they could destabilize the entire Middle East region for decades.

“If the unrest in Syria leads to the partitioning of the country, or if the terrorist forces take control… the situation will inevitably spill over into neighboring countries and create a domino effect throughout the Middle East and beyond,” he stated.