Rebels launch second Damascus attack in three days

Government forces and rebels engaged in fresh fighting as rebel offensive near Jobar neighbourhood enters third day.

Syrian rebels stormed a government-held area in northeastern Damascus for the second time in three days, sources on both sides said, pressing the boldest assault on the capital by opposition fighters in several years.

The spokesman for one of the main rebel groups involved in the attack said the new offensive began at 0300 GMT, targeting an area rebel fighters had seized from government control on Sunday before being forced to retreat.

“We launched the new offensive and we restored all the points we withdrew from on Monday. We have fire control over the Abassiyin garages and began storming it,” Wael Alwan, spokesman of rebel group Failaq al-Rahman, told Reuters.

Failaq al-Rahman rebels are fighting alongside fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and a hardline al-Qaeda-linked alliance called Tahrir al-Sham.

A Syrian military source said that rebel fighters had entered the area, setting off a car bomb at the start of the attack. The source said a group of rebels that had entered the area had been encircled and were “being dealt with”.

The rebel groups have launched the assault from their Eastern Ghouta stronghold to the east of the capital.

Government forces have escalated military operations against Eastern Ghouta in recent weeks, seeking to tighten a siege on the area. The rebel assault aims partly to relieve that pressure.

The fighting has focused around the Abassiyin area of the northeastern Jobar district, some 2km east of the Old City walls, at a major road junction leading into the capital.

A monitor reported a large explosion at dawn followed by fierce clashes, shelling and government air strikes on opposition positions.

“There was a big blast at dawn, most likely due to a car bomb attack by the rebels against a regime position between the districts of Jobar and Qaboun,” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), told the AFP news agency.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said that 12 people were wounded in rebel shelling in the second wave of the rebel offensive.

“The Syrian army is facing attempts to advance by terrorist groups … north of Jobar and is surrounding them,” SANA reported.

In the first wave, rebel groups scored gains in Jobar, even briefly advancing into Abbasid Square close to the capital’s Old City.

However, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad drove them back by nightfall and began a fierce bombing campaign on Monday, the Observatory said.

Al Jazeera’s Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from neighbouring Lebanon, said the offensive was seen as an achievement by the rebel fighters, who suffered a string of losses against Assad and his allies for the last 18 months.

“Despite these losses against the network of groups led by Assad, it would appear they still have the capabilities to hit back,” he said.

Clashes on Sunday and Monday killed at least 72 people, including 38 government soldiers and 34 rebels, according to the Observatory.