Ambush Near Damascus Kills 28 Syrian Troops

Rebels Ambushed Troops Trying to Enter Eastern Ghouta

Jason Ditz 

Posted onJuly 20, 2017CategoriesNewsTagsSyria

While in recent months the Syrian military has made substantial advances into rebel suburbs around the capital city of Damascus, an attempt to advance deeper into Eastern Ghouta today went badly for them, as rebels ambushed them and killed at least 28 of them.

Eastern Ghouta had been the main rebel stronghold near Damascus for much of the Syrian war, but infighting allowed the military to make some inroads and expel them from some of the less defensible areas. Still, the rebels remain active in several parts.

The military was advancing on a heavily defended area, and apparently didn’t expel for the rebels to have set up an ambush somewhere along the war. They were totally taken by surprise and suffered heavy casualties in the gun battle that followed.

This is unlikely to be a serious setback for the Syrian military’s intention to keep pressuring the rebels in the suburbs, with an eye toward ultimately forcing them away from the capital, though it will probably oblige them to be more careful with their forays toward rebel strongholds in the future.

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/07/20/ambush-near-damascus-kills-28-syrian-troops/