MESOP UPDATE “THE NON-CEASFIRE” : Assad Regime Exploits “Ceasefire” to Attack Near Damascus

January 01 – 2017 – By Scott Lucas – eaworldview – UPDATE 1245 GMT: According to a pro-Assad activist, a representative of Russia’s Hmeimem military operations centre has said the siege and assault on the Wadi Barada pocket, northwest of Damascus, does not violate the ceasefire because rebels in the area are affiliated with the jihadists of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

If true, the report fulfils the prediction that Russia’s tactics — in line with a possible deception over the ceasefire agreement — are to provide space for the ongoing attacks on Wadi Barada through the pretext that JFS is a target because it is excluded from the truce.

JFS, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, left the Wadi Barada area in late 2015.Fars News, the propaganda arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, tries to maintain the pretense with the proclamation of “attacks on Nusra centers in northwestern Damascus”.The site also puts out the fiction that about the Syrian Army providing for “the safe evacuation of civilians from [the] bazaar” in Wadi Barada.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: The Assad regime, exploiting what appears to be a deliberate loophole in the national “ceasefire”, continued air and ground attacks near Syria’s capital Damascus on Saturday.

Pro-Assad forces maintained their attempt, launched more than two weeks ago, to overrun the Wadi Barada pocket northwest of the capital. Shelling and mortar fire were reported as the forces tried to advance on the southern edge of the area, with 13 villages and about 100,000 people.The offensive has already damaged the pumping station for the al-Fija springs, which provide more than 60% of Damascus’s water. Supplies have been limited to about two hours per day for more than four million people.Pro-opposition activists also reported shelling and ground attacks in the East Ghouta region, northeast and east of Damascus. Video showed rebels clashing with the pro-Assad forces.

Rebel groups warned that they might revoke their accession to the ceasefire, particularly if the offensive on Wadi Barada did not cease. However, as of Sunday morning, the rebels were still refraining from their own attacks. www.mesop.de