See For Yourself: Peace Has Returned to Damascus as Last Pockets of Terror Mopped Up
The long-awaited victory of the Syrian army in Yarmouk is here, as the last terrorist stronghold in Damascus, located 8 km from the center, is finally retaken. The capital of Syria has been completely liberated from the militants of the barbarian caliphate, paving the way for a substantive discussion of a peaceful settlement for Syria, be it in Astana or in Geneva, within the Constitutional Committee. On Thursday, Vladimir Putin shared his view of the issue at a press conference with Emmanuel Macron.
Vladimir Putin: "It is a conflict that has been going on for a long time, it has deep roots, and the sources of the conflict are both inside the country and outside it. We must be optimistic, we must be committed to settling it, above all, by political means. It is impossible to establish a lasting peace without agreeing with all the parties to the conflict in the country. This is my deep conviction. We will do our best for such a dialogue — a substantive, comprehensive and trust-based dialogue — to happen".
Our war correspondent Evgeny Poddubny is reporting from Syria on the operation to liberate Yarmouk.
Syrian flags are in the southern districts of the capital. Damascus is now a peaceful city: No streets in the city center or on the outskirts are controlled by the militants. The Yarmouk camp was the last stronghold of terrorists in the capital. Thus, the victory here is politically symbolic. The operation to liberate the camp lasted for more than a month, with the fight for the center of Yarmouk taking most of the time.
IS terrorists made well-fortified firing points of every house in the center of the Yarmouk camp. To advance, the Syrian army had to literally demolish the buildings. They used warplanes, artillery, and tanks as they fired point-blank. IS militants blocked the first floors of buildings, shooting from the basement and the top floors, moving between the houses underground.
Now we can clearly see what allowed the militants to successfully put up a resistance in the camp for so long. Such tunnels connect almost all the buildings of the Yarmouk camp. The militants of the so-called Islamic State used them for defense, quickly moving reserve forces between buildings, and hiding here from air and artillery strikes. Entrance to the tunnels is prohibited for now, as the passages are booby-trapped, and the EOD specialists haven't checked these underground facilities yet. A soldier of the Syrian army, who took part in the liberation of the camp, shows the place where one of the pseudo-caliphate's command and control posts was located.
"We took this street during the assault. Follow me, some IEDs could still be here. Militants had a headquarters in this inconspicuous building. For command posts, the terrorists chose low-rise buildings that had deep basements; the houses were situated in narrow secondary streets. Militants spent most of their time in the cellar. Nobody has entered it yet, we're waiting for EOD engineers".
Syrian engineers just began demining the territory of the Yarmouk camp. It is clear that this process will take more than a week. There is a lot of unexploded ordnance, for example, this small improvised explosive device. There are anti-tank and anti-personnel mines in the streets of the camp. Fortifications are literally at every step. The terrorists arranged such above-ground passages in broader streets. Militants quickly ran here, crossing the street. These containers are filled with earth, which did a good job of protecting from artillery and mortar strikes. Here's a long-term terrorists' firing point. One machine gun covered the whole street. Two tunnels connect the pillbox to the buildings, one on the left and the other on the right. To break such a defense, the Syrian army had to use almost all the weapons at the government forces' disposal.
Civilians began to return to their homes in the first few days after liberation.
"Of course, the victory is long-awaited. Both our house and the whole neighborhood have been severely damaged. But we understand that it was the only way to force the radicals out of here. We will rebuild our homes, we will live in peace".
"I returned today. We are all ready to rebuild our homes. I hope that things will get better now".
After the liberation of the southern districts, troops that spent years in the capital, holding back the militants, may be committed to the south in order to regain control of the border with Jordan. It seems that, in the near future, the fighting will intensify there, near Daraa.
Evgeny Poddubny, Alexander Pushin and Stanislav Yelovsky for Vesti — News of the Week from the Yarmouk camp, Damascus, Syria.