Syrian troops kill over 100 rebels in siege battle

DAMASCUS - More than 100 rebel fighters have been killed over the past two days in the eastern countryside of Syrian capital Damascus as the rebels attempted to break the government troops' siege, local al-Watan daily reported Monday.

The Syrian troops repelled the rebels' attack against military positions and checkpoints at the towns of Baharieh, Qasimieh, and Qaria al-Shamieh area in the Eastern al-Ghouta Suburb.

The incident came as hundreds of rebel fighters reportedly infiltrated from neighboring Jordan to help the trapped rebels in the besieged al-Ghouta countryside.

The battles in the south and east of Damascus have been coupled with others in the northern rim of the capital, namely in Deir Attieh town, located in the al-Qalamoun Mountains.

Following the government troops' recapture of the town of Qara in al-Qalamoun, more than 500 radical rebels from the al-Qaida- linked Nusra Front have stormed Deir Attieh and entrenched there, according to al-Watan paper.

The paper added that the Syrian troops had tightened the siege on the town in a bid to recapture it from the Nusra fighters.

The victory in al-Qalamoun is crucial to the Syrian troops as ridding the rebel-held area would secure the road that connects Damascus in the south with central and northern Syria, and cut off the rebels' supply line from neighboring Lebanon.