Syrian rebels have posted videos on YouTube showing dozens of bodies of Iraqi Shiite militias, reportedly killed in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus in what they called the ‘Ghouta Epic’.
The general leadership of rebel command in Eastern Ghotua issued a statement saying more than 800 militant forces loyal to Basher Assad were killed in recent battles east of Damascus.
Fierce fighting has erupted since last month to the east of Damascus as rebels struggle to break a months-long blockade by regime forces.
The fighting began on mid November when rebel units attacked a string of military checkpoints encircling the opposition-held suburbs in Eastern Ghouta, which has been under siege for more than six months.
The blockade has cut off rebel weapons supplies and helped turn the tide of fighting around the capital in Assad’s favor.
Assad's military resurgence this year has relied to a great extent on support from Shiite Iran and fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iraqi militias, some of them based around a Shiite shrine southeast of Damascus.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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