Syria regime controls 70 percent of Ghouta enclave: monitor

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Syrian soldiers stand guard as Syrians from rebel-held Eastern Ghouta arrive at the regime-held checkpoint in Adra, on the northeastern outskirts of Damascus, after escaping the enclave through a corridor opened by the government forces on March 15, 2018. — AFP
Syrian soldiers stand guard as Syrians from rebel-held Eastern Ghouta arrive at the regime-held checkpoint in Adra, on the northeastern outskirts of Damascus, after escaping the enclave through a corridor opened by the government forces on March 15, 2018. — AFP

The Syrian regime and allied forces have taken control of more than two-thirds of the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus, a monitor said on Thursday.

“The regime controls more than 70 per cent of besieged Eastern Ghouta,” Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.

Earlier, Syria's army had captured the key town of Hammuriyeh in a southern pocket of Eastern Ghouta after rebels pulled back and thousands of residents fled.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Hammuriyeh fell to regime forces after rebels from Faylaq al-Rahman withdrew.

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