UTV | TEHRAN – Syrian opposition fighters in a besieged area northeast of Damascus have been told they must accept state rule or leave, a rebel group said on Tuesday.
The regime and its Russian ally seek to wipe out the last pockets of opposition territory near the capital.
The ultimatum to the rebels of Eastern Qalamoun was served to civilians from the area during a meeting with a Russian colonel and an officer from Syrian Air Force Intelligence, rebel spokesman Said Saif of the Martyr Ahmad Abdo forces told Reuters.
The area is 40 km from Damascus and separate from Eastern Ghouta — an area right next to the capital where regime forces have routed rebels in recent weeks, forcing thousands to accept safe passage out toward the Turkish border.
An opposition source said talks over the densely populated town of Douma, the last rebel pocket of Eastern Ghouta, had yet to be concluded.
President Bashar Assad, his military position secures thanks to Russia and Iran, is seeking to crush the last pockets of opposition to his rule near the main cities of western Syria.
The rebel enclave in eastern Qalamoun includes several towns and a barren expanse of mountainous territory.
“A clear message was sent to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups in the area: Either reconciliation and disarmament — handing weapons to the Syrian regime as the Russians describe it — or departing eastern Qalamoun,” Saif said in separate comments to Al-Hadath TV. (Courtesy – Arab News)