Syrian President Bashar Assad has arrived at the firing line in Eastern Ghouta and met with servicemen of the country’s armed forces, the presidential press service said on Sunday.
Al-Ikhbariya TV broadcast the still images Sunday of President Assad standing near a tank and surrounded by soldiers on a street in eastern Ghouta, the region near Damascus where a Syrian offensive has been underway over the past month.
Earlier, state media said Syrian troops had entered Saqba, a town in a southern pocket of eastern Ghouta.
According to the Syrian army leadership, government forces have liberated 70 percent of the territory of Eastern Ghouta, while over 50,000 people have left the area through the checkpoint in the settlement of Hammuriyah over the past five days. The Syrian army opened a corridor near Hammouriyeh this week and civilians have been making their way out towards army positions on foot.
"At the firing line in Eastern Ghouta, President Assad [has met] with heroes of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA)," the presidential press service wrote on its Telegram channel.
It was not clear where in eastern Ghouta Assad was. He was talking to the troops.
In a month-long operation, pro-Syrian government forces have marched into much of eastern Ghouta, the last major terrorist-held bastion around Damascus.
