Syrian Army Advances in Qalamoun, Aleppo, Blast Near Damascus Kills 31 Troops

Local Editor

A bomb attack on an the Syrian army base near Damascus killed 31 Syrian soldiers Sunday.

The blast came amid a major regime offensive against armed groups positions all around the capital and on second city Aleppo in the north.
"Three generals and a brigadier-general were among 31 troops killed in a bomb attack that caused a building in the army transport base in Harasta to collapse," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.

In parallel, he considered that the timing of the attack is "significant", coming days after troops loyal to President Bashar Assad recaptured several areas that had been under rebel control for a year.
The explosives appeared to have been placed "either inside or beneath the building in a tunnel", Abdel Rahman added.
A rebel group, the Direh al-Aasmeh [Shield of Damascus] brigade, claimed responsibility for the attack.
A video distributed by the group, which is part of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, showed the building collapse completely.

North of the capital, Syria's air force launched air raids on Qara near the border with Lebanon as the Syrian army stormed terrorists positions in the town, the Observatory said.

Al-Watan reported that "the army hit the Qalamoun mountains hard, closing in on the terrorists around Qara."
Violence in the Qalamoun area intensified on Friday.
Qalamoun, which has a strong armed groups presence, is strategic because it borders Lebanon and is used as a rear base for operations around the capital.
It is also important because it is on the road linking Damascus to the central province of Homs and also houses weapons depots.

Elsewhere in Syria Sunday, Damascus and several parts of the south were hit by a power cut lasting several hours.

Electricity Minister Imad Khamis called it "the result of sabotage by armed terrorist groups against the high voltage cables that feed the southern areas."
Also on Sunday, mortar rounds slammed into areas of central Damascus, killing at least two people.
The escalation of violence in and around Damascus comes as the Syrian army advances towards Aleppo.

Meanwhile, a prominent Syrian armed group leader has died from wounds suffered in an air raid on the city of Aleppo, in a blow to the armed groups.

Abdelqader Saleh, head of the the so-called al-Tawhid Brigades, which is backed by Qatar, died in a Turkish hospital where he had been taken. Saleh had been wounded on Thursday when the Syrian army raided a Tawhid meeting and killed another commander on the spot, opposition sources said.

"We declare the "martyrdom" of Abdelqader Saleh," a statement by Tawhid said.
Tawhid issued a statement last week, declaring an emergency and summoning all fighters to head to the fronts.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team