Syrian Army, ISIL terrorists keep fighting for district near capital

Heavy clashes continue between ISIL Takfiri militants and soldiers of the Syrian army to capture an area on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, Press TV reports.

On Saturday, the army launched a sophisticated military operation against the Takfiris to recapture the Jobar district.

The operation was said to include sophisticated missile systems, heavy artillery shelling as well as tanks and armored vehicles.

Jobar is the closest point to Damascus the militants have ever reached.

“We are using new weapons like heavy fortification missiles. This battle will show many of the tactics we have been developing in the past year using accumulated knowledge that we now have,” said a Syrian army officer.

The Syrian army did not disclose details about the new weapons but sources said they included Russian missiles.

“This is no easy battle by all means. We have been holding our position in Jobar for over 14 months now and when the time came for us to attack, we were well aware of the preparations the militants have made,” said another army officer.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011 with ISIL Takfiri terrorists currently controlling parts of it mostly in the east.

The Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — are reportedly supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

More than 191,000 people have been killed in over three years of fighting in the war-ravaged country, says the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), calling the figure a probable “underestimate of the real total number of people killed.”