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Daesh takes Damascus area after rebels pull out

March 20, 2018
A wounded Syrian girl walks with her parents in the town of Kfar Batna, Southeastern Ghouta, on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus. — AFP
A wounded Syrian girl walks with her parents in the town of Kfar Batna, Southeastern Ghouta, on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus. — AFP

BEIRUT — The Daesh (the so-called IS) militants holding a small district in Damascus have gained some ground after driving out Syrian army units that moved into a neighboring area that rebels abandoned last week, a war monitor said.

The district of Al-Qadam lies in the Syrian capital's southern suburbs and has not been part of the month-long offensive waged by the army against rebels in Eastern Ghouta.

It is located next to the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, a scene of fierce fighting early in the seven-year conflict.

Last week, rebels that had held part of Qadam for years quit the district for opposition areas in northern Syria under an evacuation deal with the government, allowing the army to move in.

However, the Daesh group that had held a separate part of Qadam, and had sporadically fought the rebels there, launched an assault to take the area they had vacated.

Daesh has lost almost all its territory in Syria after two rival offensives last year by the Syrian army and an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias backed by the United States.

It now controls only the small pocket in Qadam, a patch of territory in southwest Syria near the borders with Jordan and Israel, and two small areas of desert on each side of the Euphrates near the border with Iraq. (Reporting By Angus McDowall Editing by Catherine Evans)

A monitor said Tuesday three dozen pro-government fighters were killed in a district of Syria's capital as Daesh took control of it in a surprise nighttime attack.

"IS took full control of Qadam, and 36 government troops and loyalist fighters have been killed," the Britain-based monitoring group said.

Dozens more were wounded or captured, or are still missing in action, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

IS launched the attack from positions it holds in the adjacent Hajar Al-Aswad district, Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"Regime forces are bringing reinforcements to the area around Qadam to try to retake it," he said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations' human rights chief slammed the Security Council on Monday for failing to "defend human rights and prevent further loss of life" as the war in Syria that has killed nearly half a million people enters its eighth year.

"The Syrian conflict has been characterized by its absolute disregard for even the most minimal standards of principle and law," said Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein.

Saying that many who had sought to document human rights violations had been detained, tortured or killed, Zeid said: "The Security Council has not lived up to the sacrifice of these heroes throughout Syria. It has not taken decisive action to defend human rights and prevent further loss of life."

The high commissioner for human rights spoke at an informal meeting at the United Nations shortly after his expected briefing to the Security Council was blocked when Russia requested a procedural vote.

The 15 members of the council attended the informal meeting.

Zeid was critical of the use of veto powers in the council to shield "perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria and elsewhere" from justice.

Russia, the largest international backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has used its veto power nearly a dozen times on possible Security Council action on Syria since the country’s civil war began in 2011.

"This failure to protect the lives and rights of millions of people is corroding not only the work but also the legitimacy of the UN," said Zeid. — Reuters/AFP


March 20, 2018
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