Syrian Army’s Special Forces raised the Syrian’s flag over the municipal building inside the rebel stronghold of Mu’adhimiyah Al-Sham

Syrian Army officially in control of rebel stronghold in rural Damascus

The Syrian Arab Army’s Special Forces raised the Syrian Arab Republic’s flag over the municipal building inside the rebel stronghold of Mu’adhimiyah Al-Sham on Sunday after a agreement was put in place by local committees to give the government control of the city. Following the first phase of the reconciliation agreement that required the government to treat all the wounded and sick, the rebels from Ajnad Al-Sham requested to be transferred to the Idlib countryside, where they would rejoin their comrades near the provincial capital. The Syrian government agreed to transport the 700 non-resident rebel fighters from Mu’adhimiyah Al-Sham to the Idlib Governorate in order to comply with Ajnad Al-Sham’s terms to hand over the city. Similar to the stipulations in the Old Homs District, the Syrian government will provide the buses to transport the rebel forces; however, they have not yet agreed on a date to begin this second phase. Mu’adhimiyah Al-Sham has long been a rebel stronghold in the West Ghouta region of rural Damascus; its loss will have a major impact on the remaining Ajnad Al-Sham fighters in the nearby city of Darayya.