Military Source: Yabroud Battle in Final Stage, Army Preparing for Aleppo Offensive

Syrian military sources confirmed that the army is very near to taking full control of the town of Yabroud in Damascus countryside, adding that the next massive operation will soon start in Aleppo.
“The Yabroud battle is nearing its final stages and the town has been besieged by the army through different fronts,” Syrian army’s retired General Yahya Suleiman told FNA on Saturday.
He noted that the Yabroud battle is important because of the town’s proximity to the Lebanese border town of Arsal where many foreign-backed militants are stationed.
“Many Syrian civilians have also been trapped in Yabroud and they are used as a human shield,” General Suleiman said.
He reiterated that if this strategic border town falls and the routes of relief supplies to the terrorists are cut, it will be a strategic achievement.
General Suleiman said after purging the militants from Damascus countryside, the Syrian army will concentrate on other strategic areas, specially Aleppo in the Northern parts of the Muslim country.
On Thursday, a military source said that the Syrian army units seized full control of al-Qatri complex and hill which looks over the Eastern hills of Yabroud town.
Last Sunday, the Syrian army launched massive ground operations to capture Yabroud.
Early reports from the battlefield said the army units were advancing towards Yabroud in different fronts. The army seized back control over the strategic Al-Kuwaiti hill in the same area last Saturday.
The surrounding Rima farms and Al-Sahl town were also under the Syrian army’s air and artillery attacks.
Military sources told FNA that the Syrian army has killed tens of militants and injured dozens more in fierce clashes with the terrorists after they reinforced their positions in Al-Kuwaiti hill and other surrounding areas of Yabroud.
Last Saturday morning, the army units captured Al-Sahl town which was considered an important base for the militants.
The army had also earlier won back control over two strategic hills near the town of Yabroud.
Yabroud has been under the control of the foreign-backed militants over the past months. It was the last major town in Qalamoun that the Syrian army is fighting to retake.
The town is located near the Lebanese border and explosives used in fatal bomb attacks in Lebanon were reportedly smuggled from the militant-held town.