(AFP) - Syria's army advanced Monday as it battles to capture a rebel region that is key to the capital's water supply, launching strikes and artillery fire threatening a fragile nationwide truce, now in its fourth day.
Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said, "Regime forces and fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah group are advancing in the region and are now on the outskirts of Ain al-Fijeh, the primary water source in the area." He said government troops and allied fighters were engaged in fierce clashes with rebels, including from the former Al-Qaeda affiliate now known as the
Fateh al-Sham Front. The monitor said government forces were carrying out air strikes and artillery fire on the area, northwest of the capital, but reported no casualties.