Syrian opposition forces are claiming to have seized control of a number of security points from Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the eastern part of the capital Damascus.

Syria Mubasher News Network told on Wednesday that the Ahrar al-Sham opposition group took control of security points in Hatitat al-Jarash hub near Bala town as well as many locations in the Jobar neighborhood of eastern Damascus after fierce clashes with regime forces.

The opposition claimed to have killed a number of regime soldiers and destroyed a tank. Assad forces reportedly shelled Jobar neighborhood and Zeidin town.

State forces were also accused of killing 26 civilians before withdrawing from villages in the eastern countryside of Deraa province in the southern part of the country, the network added.

Local activists photographed and documented the dead civilians. The network described that attack as a “revenge massacre” after regime forces had failed to storm Basr al-Harir village on Monday.

Opposition forces managed to repel attacks on the town and forced regime forces to withdraw from the villages around it.

On Tuesday five opposition factions in Jobar neighborhood announced a joint military operation against regime forces in Damascus, the network said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Opposition fighters in southwestern Syria

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