On Friday, they Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies captured several positions and hills north of Beit Jinn town in the Western Ghouta region, according to pro-government sources.
The SAA also repelled a counter attack of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies north of the town.
Syrian Ari Force attack helicopters destroyed an oil storage facility, ammo depots and armed vehicles of HTS around Beit Jinn, according to pro-government sources. The sources added that HTS is now redeploying many units to north Beit Jinn town in an attempt to repel the SAA attack.
An officer of the SAA told South Front that the SAA and the local National Defense Forces (NDF) – mostly Druze – launched the military operation in the Western Ghouta region to put an additional pressure on HTS and its allies in it. If the SAA makes major gains in the region, militants will likely accept an evacuation deal to Idlib governorate.
Beit Jinn was among the first areas that were captured by Jabhat al-Nusra [now known as HTS] back in early 2012. Since 2014, the Western Ghouta region has been mostly calm.