Assad’s forces and members of the Hezbollah militia breached the Zabadani-Fua truce which was agreed by Jaish al-Fatah (Army of Conquest) with Iranian negotiators, while the besieged city of Zabadani has been hit by heavy bombardment with artillery, tank and mortar shells. The shelling has concentrated on civilian homes and on most of the surrounding checkpoints, especially the Qalaat al-Kursi, al-Ataasi, al-Housh, and Dufour Baderiyeh checkpoints.
Activists reported that more than 100 artillery and rocket shells had been fired in less than half an hour by the checkpoints besieging the city, hitting residential areas and the mountains east of the city.
All checkpoints besieging the city witnessed a full mobilization, and Assad’s forces set up B9 artillery on the outskirts of the al-Nabou’a district north west of the city facing the Adouba road.
The bombardment of Zabadani coincides with bombardment by regime warplanes with vacuum bombs on the city of Binish in the northern Idleb countryside, killing 10 people and wounding a number of others according to the preliminary toll, in a clear and explicit breach of the truce.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.