Suburban Combat: Syrian Army Fights Islamists in Greater Damascus

"Gathering centers of the militant groups in Jobar in eastern Ghouta were massively attacked by the Syrian troops. Several militants were killed or wounded in the attacks," FARS quoted the sources as saying on Saturday.

The sources added that "the Syrian fighter jets, for their part, bombed the militant groups bases and gatherings in Jobar," which also claimed the lives of several militants. Jobar is an inner suburb of Damascus located between the city and a key thoroughfare, Almotahalik Aljanobi Street, which connects with the M5 highway leading north to Homs.

Earlier this week, it was reported that the Syrian Army and the country's National Defense Forces (NDF), managed to drive Islamist militants out of more areas in Damascus Province, where the army regained control over several sites during fighting near the Qalamoun Mountains.

Army sources said that on Friday night, the army and the NDF "surprised Daesh terrorists in the Eastern Qalamoun with a powerful assault on the Damascus Train Tracks, the Petrol Pumping Station, the al-Thaniyah Walls, and the village of al-Azzam in rural West Damascus." Scores of militants were killed and many more wounded in this large-scale attack, according to sources.

Adding to the Syrian Army's anti-Daesh effort is Russia's air campaign, which was launched on September 30, when more than fifty Russian warplanes, including Su-24M, Su-25 and Su-34 jets, commenced precision airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria at the behest of Syrian President Bashar Assad.