Syrian army retakes most of rebel-held district on capital's edge
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AMMAN -- The Syrian army and its allies are on the verge of completely seizing the rebel-held district of Qaboun on the edge of the capital following over two months of relentless aerial strikes and artillery shelling, rebels and state media said on Sunday.
But rebels said they still held a small pocket within the neighbourhood that lies in the northeastern edge of the capital that has been mostly reduced to rubble after around 80 days in which it was struck by hundreds of aerial strikes and missiles.
The army had resumed its intensive bombardment in the district on Wednesday after a one-day ultimatum it gave the rebels mainly drawn from the area to surrender and agree to evacuate to rebel-held areas in northern Syria.
"The regime has threatened to destroy what is left of Qaboun and will not accept anything but a military solution," Abdullah al Qabouni from the local council of the district told Reuters.
