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AFP
Damascus
Syria's regime has seized control of over a quarter of rebel-held Eastern Ghouta on the edge of Damascus after two weeks of devastating bombardment, sending hundreds of civilians into flight, a monitor said on Sunday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime forces had advanced to three kilometres (two miles) from Douma, the main town, after retaking"more than 25 percent" of Eastern Ghouta, in operations mostly through farmlands.
The government's advance into the last major opposition enclave near the capital, on the back of 15 days of air strikes, artillery fire and rocket attacks that are reported to have left more than 640 civilians dead, sent hundreds of residents into flight to western parts of the enclave.
Under growing international pressure to end the bloodshed, regime backer Russia last week announced daily five-hour"humanitarian pauses" in the enclave. But while the air campaign has eased, fighting has intensified on the ground.
Backed by Russian air power, the Syrian military has advanced on several fronts, retaking control of farms and villages, a military source told state media.
The source said government forces seized a number of districts including Al-Nashabiyeh and Otaya, and had"eradicated terrorist groups" on the eastern outskirts of Damascus.
They have reached the centre of the enclave, to the edge of Beit Sawa, according to the Observatory.
After advances in recent days that saw the regime seize control of 10 percent of Eastern Ghouta, rebel fighters clashed with regime forces on Sunday in the eastern part of the enclave, the Observatory said.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based monitoring group, said at least 12 regime fighters had been killed in two areas, Al-Rihan and Shifoniya, in overnight clashes with the Jaish al-Islam rebel group.
Jaish al-Islam shares control of rebel-held parts of Eastern Ghouta with Faylaq al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham. Damascus and Moscow say they are trying to clear the area of"terrorists".
Hamza Bayraqdar, a spokesman for Jaish al-Islam, said on Twitter that the group's forces had launched"surprise attacks" against regime positions.
The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said rebels had retaken some parts of Shifoniya.
