Syria Update: Latest Events October 12-13, 2013

Syria Update: Latest Events (translation)
October 12-13, 2013

Damascus. Al-Nusra Front militants have continued their terrorist attacks on the residential areas of the local towns and villages, trying to destabilize the situation there and to create an atmosphere of fear and insecurity among the local population. A car bomb exploded in the downtown area of Damascus in district Al Shaalan injuring two people. Two cars were completely wrecked. 

In the province of Damascus, the al-Nusra Front militants have continued their mortar attacks against the heavily populated areas. As a result, about 12 mortar bombs have fallen in the Jaramana city. Six people have been killed and 25 wounded, among them women and children. Local buildings and residents’ property have sustained considerable damage. It was noted that the al-Nusra Front militants have constantly attacked this particular predominantly Christian neighborhood. 

At the funeral ceremony, representatives of a French non-governmental organization who happened to be in the city of Jaramana at the time expressed their condolences to the family members of the victims of those attacks. They could see with their own eyes the horror of this undeclared war and heard the local people’s voices on this issue. 

Counter-terror operation has continued in Ghouta area, east of Damascus. The town of Husseinia as well as Al-Diabia area have come under full control of the Syrian Army. Al-Nusra Front militants have suffered heavy losses there. While securing the area, the Syrian Army soldiers have discovered the militants’ headquarters and their command center, which were rigged with computers and other equipment and were connected with a wide network of trenches, deep underground tunnels and shelters with large stocks of weapons and ammunitions in them. SAA sappers have also defused a large number of improvised explosive devices (IED). Besides, a number of dead bodies, hastily covered by dust, were found in one of the trenches. Presumably, they were the militants who had been killed earlier.

In Damascus province, another counter-terror operation has ended in town of Tal Sakka being completely freed from al-Nusra Front terrorists. A large number of militants and their vehicles has been destroyed including one armored personnel carrier. The freed area is currently being secured by special forces units. In the process, numerous fortified firing points, underground tunnels and tranches have been found and a lot of IEDs were neutralized. The securing of the area is still being carried out.

In Aleppo province, Syrian Army has taken under its control a number of residential areas, including villages Alannazan and Hakleh, as well as the flat lands and hill ranges running along the Damascus - Aleppo highway. Local car traffic as well as interstate bus services have resumed. Now, residents from the neighboring provinces can safely travel to come to visit their friends and relatives.

Contributors: Marat Musin, Igor Nadyrshin, Andrey Filatov, Victor Kuznetsov.

ANNA-NEWS