Tabnak – As the three guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire are preparing a new round of talks to discuss de-escalation zones in the war-torn country, the Syrian army has managed to retake some new areas from the terrorists’ grip. Meanwhile, the US-led coalition continues its own operation inside Syria, too.
According to Press TV, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that Russian, Turkish and Iranian representatives would meet in Tehran on August 8-9 to discuss the "strengthening” of four de-escalation zones in Syria.
"With the Turkish counterpart [Mevlut Cavusoglu], we discussed the situation with the fulfillment of the agreements as part of the Astana process and discussed preparations for a new meeting of the representatives of Russia, Turkey and Iran, which will take place in Tehran on August 8-9," Lavrov said.
The Russian top diplomat also noted that the trio will continue discussions "on further strengthening the regime of de-escalation zones."
This is while, it is reported that Syrian government forces have intensified shelling and air strikes on the last militant stronghold near the capital city of Damascus as army soldiers and allied fighters from popular defense groups continue to make territorial gains against foreign-sponsored militant groups across the war-battered country.
Local sources said elite units of the army, positioned on the strategic Mount Qasioun that overlooks Damascus, struck Jobar district, located some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) east of the Old City walls, as well as Ain Terma suburb, located 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) east of Old Damascus.
Meanwhile, Syrian Air Force jets bombarded Daesh positions in al-Bawlieh Mountain, Ma'adan subdistrict, al-Khamaiseh, al-Jaber and al-Numaisa districts south of the northern city of Raqqah. Elsewhere in Salamiyah district of the central province of Hama, Syrian military aircraft pounded Daesh position, inflicting heavy losses on their ranks.
At the same time, the civilian casualties caused by the US-led coalition’s airstrikes in Syria, has raised the concerns over the human situation in the country. In this vein, the Syrian government reiterated its calls for the dissolving of the US-led coalition over its "continued and systematic massacre” of civilians.
"Syria renews its call to immediately dissolve the coalition which was established outside the framework of the UN and without requesting permission from the Syrian government,” said Syria’s Foreign Ministry in two letters sent to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the chairman of the UNSC on Sunday.
The letters stressed that the coalition’s continued destruction of residential neighborhoods and the use of phosphorus munitions are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
They further called on the UNSC to carry out its responsibility of preserving international peace and security, and urged all states to abide by the UNSC resolutions, especially Resolution number 2253.
It should be noted that Syria has been fighting different foreign-sponsored militant and terrorist groups since March 2011. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated last August that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the crisis until then.
