‘Syria forces retake spring near Damascus’

Government forces have reportedly entered a key village in the Syrian capital’s countryside, retaking control of a spring and water storage facilities that used to supply Damascus’ water.

On Saturday, the forces moved into the Ayn al-Figeh Village, which is located in the strategic Wadi Barada area in the suburbs of the capital, sources associated with the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah reported.

Wadi Barada is home to Damascus’ main river, Barada, as well as springs used as sources of water for the capital. Al-Figeh houses one of those springs.

The armed opposition’s al-Hadath television channel, however, denied reports that the army had seized the village.

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Since late December 2016, government forces have been fighting in Wadi Barada against the militants who have damaged the water processing facilities there and cut the water flow to some five million people in the city.

In mid-January, the militants assassinated a representative of the Syrian government who would coordinate reconciliation talks between Damascus and the armed outfits in Wadi Barada.

According to Syria’s government, the militants fighting in Badi Warada belong to the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri terror group. The terrorists were formerly known as al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, but renamed themselves and alleged breaking away from the Egyptian outfit.

An all-Syria ceasefire, which has been brokered by Russia and Turkey, forbids fighting across the Arab country’s territory. However, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and its fellow Takfiri terror group of Daesh have been excluded from the agreement due to the barbarity of their actions and their refusal to fall into step with any pacification efforts.

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