Syria Update: Splitting Jobar from Zamalka (Part 6) (transcreation)
We arrived in Jobar this early morning and were witnesses to the preparations for the imminent decisive part of the offensive against the high-rise buildings. The storming of the buildings was supposed to become the pivotal point in the greater operation aimed at encircling a small militant group in the town of Jobar.
“We ought to remember that none of us is going to die before his time has come. Not long ago, I was standing in one spot and, when I had moved to another place just three meters away, a mortar bomb landed exactly at that spot. Only God knows when we will die. It is praiseworthy that you have volunteered to participate in this operation. Nobody has made you to do such a thing.
“The dwelling houses we have stormed before were full of militants. There are fewer of them now in this place. During the last attack of ours, it was impossible to pop one’s head out because of the intensity of the enemy fire. At present, the enemy fire has become more sporadic. I will provide fire cover to you, but that is not enough. The infantrymen will have to move in there and secure the buildings from inside. In order to win this battle without losses, we must start attacking right behind the final fire strike by the tanks. We’ll need to rush forward, right away. This way, we will be able to get our losses to the minimum.
“The key is the ground floor. Other floors are not necessary, as they [the militants] will not be able to get out and will eventually surrender. After that, we engage the basements. Throw in grenades and move forward.
“I suffer for each of the soldiers like for my brothers. You are all like brothers to me. Your soul is my soul. I am fighting for you and for myself. Friendship and brotherhood is the very important thing.
“Right now, we will all move out to do reconnaissance and then we will set our action plan”.
I followed the SAA commanders and soldiers for reconnaissance and preliminary observation of the enemy positions. Braving the militants’ sniper fire, we popped out our camera to observe the area where the SAA infantrymen were supposed to rush the militants’ defense positions in future.
After digesting the words of the SAA captain my friend, I began to look differently at the risk of being hit by a sniper bullet. Zamalka defense positions were less than 300 meters away from where I was standing, which made it an ideal shooting distance for a sniper.
We were moving along. The following day, after the cannons would have finished firing, the soldiers would have to dismantle within seconds the painstakingly made barricades and afterwards rush the enemy positions.
"A militant sniper position is over there. We must outwit them. See, you are familiar with their positions. There should be no surprises. I do not need a single wounded”.
We climbed the rooftop of one of the Syrian army-controlled buildings. From here, we could look at the continued fire strikes aimed at the militants’ positions located deep inside Jobar neighborhood. The main objective was to destroy militants' barricades and deprive them of the ability to deliver their strikes from the flank. Covered by the infantrymen fire, one of Syrian tanks was firing at the militants’ positions at extremely close range. The militants’ defense lines were soon breached and the opening in their barricades was getting wider.
The nearby highway was cluttered with burned carcasses of recently abandoned Infantry Fighting Vehicles – the silent witnesses to difficult combat battles in the area. The militants had set the armored vehicles ablaze by firing missiles at them from those high-rise buildings. There was an underground passageway, leading to Zamalka neighborhood. Another firing point of the militants was hidden at the tunnel’s entrance, facing the highway. This was the place where a friend of ours – Sallah – had died.
“That is where the militants retreat into the residential area and return to their original positions after finishing their strikes against the tanks. We will have to destroy everything here to deprive them of their communications”.
After having examined the militants’ defense positions, the SAA commanding officers now had a picture of the imminent combat. To support their conclusions, they decided to order an aggressive armored reconnaissance, too.
“The tanks are engaging their targets, while the infantrymen are covering them with fire by shooting at the nearby buildings to prevent the militants from firing mortar missiles upon the tanks”.
The tunnel that was linking the high-rise buildings had been finally discovered. The militants would not be able to use it the following day. At least, not without getting punished for doing so.
Less than 24 hours before the attack, we were looking at the ill-fated high-rise buildings, which would finally be taken under control of the SAA troops. The Syrian soldiers had also been motivated by hearing of the latest intelligence about the militants’ vowing to repel the imminent Syrian army attack and make it absolutely impossible for the SAA troops to capture those high-rise buildings.
Contributors: Marat Musin, Andrey Filatov, Victor Kuznetsov, Igor Nadyrshin.
ANNA-NEWS, Damascus.
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