Syrian army recaptures towns in southern Damascus' countryside

The Syrian army recaptured Thursday three towns in the southern countryside of the capital Damascus after dealing "heavy blows" to the armed groups.

Calling it a strategic achievement while playing victory songs, the state TV aired a brief statement of the Syrian army's general command, in which the army declared the full recapture of the towns of Sbaineh al-Sughra, Sbaineh al-Kubra as well as the town of Ghazal south of the capital Damascus.

"Controlling this strategic and important area has brought down the terrorism project in the countryside of Damascus and tightened the screws on the terrorist groups," the military statement said.

It added the new victory constitutes a starting point to eliminate the remnants of the "terrorist" pockets.

The military general command, meanwhile, stressed its resolve to continue haunting down the armed groups to eliminate them and restore security and stability to the war-torn country.

Experts said the new military victory contributed in isolating the rebels in the southern parts of Damascus from those in the western suburbs. It said the rebels have backed down to the Yarmouk and the adjacent Hajar al-Aswad areas after losing Sbaineh.