Syrian army gains ground in eastern Ghouta
Syria, Mar 11 (ANI): The Syrian army has reportedly splintered the rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta, as it intensifies its three-week assault on the area near Damascus. The Syrian army advanced on March 10 into eastern Ghouta, the last major rebel stronghold near the capital Damascus. That's according to a war monitor and Syrian state media, who said the army had managed to splinter the besieged enclave. Syrian state television broadcast footage from inside Mesraba; the capture of that town and surrounding farmland brings important roads under Syrian army fire, effectively cutting the large rebel-held towns of Harasta and Douma off from each other. That's according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. A spokesman for Jaish al-Islam, one of the two main insurgent groups in Eastern Ghouta, said rebels had repelled the Mesraba attack. Eastern Ghouta has been besieged since 2013 but a relentless assault over the past three weeks has seen the Syrian army capture half of the territory, and is estimated to have killed nearly 1,000 people.