Syrian regime forces in Qalamoun have made tactical withdrawals to reinforce the southern front of Damascus amid fears of an imminent offensive by rebels and Islamist jihadists.
Local activists from Fleita and Ras al-Maara in Qalamoun said the regime army has moved tanks and vehicles based in their area to Damascus.
Months ago, Bashar al-Assad’s forces backed by Lebanese Hezbollah militia captured most of Qalamoun area, including Yabroud and Nabk.
The deteriorating morale of Assad’s soldiers on the southern battlefields has pushed army officials to back troops with immediate reinforcements to halt the rapid advances by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group Nusra Front near the Occupied Golan Heights.
Islamist armed groups have become the most powerful forces in the three-year-old uprising against Assad, who has long portrayed himself as the defender of a secular order in Syria as the death toll exceeded 191,000.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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