Damascus

Syrian army says Damascus ‘completely secure’ after taking Yarmouk camp from ISIS

Syria’s army said it was in full control of the capital Damascus and its outskirts after ousting Islamic State, marking a major milestone in the seven-year war. “The Syrian army announces today that Damascus, its outskirts and surrounding towns are completely secure,” it said in a statement carried by state media network SANA on Monday, May 21. The development came after troops had captured a key southern portion of Damascus from IS, the statement said, including the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk and the adjacent district of Hajar al-Aswad. “The wheel of our progress on the battlefield will not stop until all Syrian land is purified,” it added. Russian-langauge Russkaya Vesna posted video of Syrian Arab Army troops raising the national flag in the Yarmouk camp, which had been under siege for years. Syria’s war erupted in 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad, including in the capital. The following year, the government began losing control of parts of Damascus and placed a crippling siege around Yarmouk, which lies in the capital’s south. The army’s announcement came hours after a tenuous evacuation deal saw hundreds of ISIS fighters and their relatives quit Yarmouk, according to reports. Videos posted on social media on Sunday …

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