The Syrian army has launched the second stage of its operation to liberate the areas of Ain Tarma and Jobar, in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, from al-Nusra Front terrorists.
A military source told Sputnik Arabic that the first stage of the operation was a success. The Syrian army took control of the area around a gas station in Sonbol, as well as a network of underground tunnels.
Clashes between the military and the terrorists are ongoing in an area surrounding a marble plant and the Harmalah tunnel in the center of the Ain Tarma neighborhood.
On August 2, the Russian embassy compound in Damascus came under mortar fire from positions held by the al-Nusra Front and al-Rahman Legion terrorist groups.
As well as anti-terror operations around Damascus, the Syrian army is conducting a five-pronged offensive in the Syrian Desert in an effort to encircle the terrorists holed up in eastern Homs and liberate Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor.
In June, the military's advance near Palmyra in the Homs province deprived Daesh terrorists of control over the Shaer gas field.
The army also liberated the al Heil oilfield last month and is carrying out an operation to drive Islamic terrorists from the town of al-Sukhnah, north-east of Palmyra. al-Sukhnah lies on the road to Deir ez-Zor, a government-held city which has been besieged by Daesh terrorists for three years.