Syrian government forces have recaptured all towns and villages in the Wadi Barada valley near the capital, Damascus, according to a statement by the Syrian military.

"Units of our armed forces, together with ... allied forces have achieved their mission in returning security and stability" to the area, said the statement, read out by a military spokesman on Syrian state TV on Sunday.

The Syrian army and its allies took over a Wadi Barada village containing a major spring and pumping station that supplies most of Damascus' water on Saturday.

Heavy clashes between government troops and rebel forces were sporadic in Wadi Barada since a December 30 ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey.

Fighting continued even after a negotiated deal to restore water to Damascus earlier this month.

Under the agreement, teams were meant to repair the infrastructure that supplies Damascus with water in exchange for a cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of rebel fighters willing to do so.

About 5.5 million in Damascus and its suburbs have been without water since December 22.

The Syrian conflict started as an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. It subsequently escalated into a full-scale civil war that has left hundreds of thousands of people dead and more than half the country's pre-war population displaced.

OPINION: Astana - What talks?

United Nations-hosted negotiations on the Syrian conflict planned for February 8 in Geneva have been postponed until the end of that month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week.

"The date of February 8 has been put back until the end of next month," Lavrov said at a meeting on Friday with Syrian opposition groups in Astana, Kazakhstan, that ended last week without a major breakthrough.

Key players Russia, Turkey and Iran backed the Astana talks, also attended by government representatives, and the main result was an agreement by the three sides to try to shore up a shaky ceasefire on the ground in the war-torn country.

The latest peace initiative to halt fighting comes after the Syrian army, backed by Russian and Iranian firepower, dealt rebels a crushing blow by forcing them out of eastern Aleppo last month.</s>BEIRUT: Syrian government forces have recaptured all towns and villages in the Wadi Barada valley near Damascus, the Syrian military said in a statement on Sunday.

"Units of our armed forces, together with ... allied forces have achieved their mission in returning security and stability" to the area, said the statement, read out by a military spokesman on Syrian state TV.

The Syrian army and its allies took over a Wadi Barada village containing a major spring and pumping station that supplies most of Damascus's water on Saturday.</s>BEIRUT, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Syrian government forces have recaptured all towns and villages in the Wadi Barada valley near Damascus, the Syrian military said on Sunday, in another blow to rebels who have fought for years to unseat President Bashar al-Assad.

"Units of our armed forces, together with ... allied forces have achieved their mission in returning security and stability" to the area, the military said in a statement read out by a spokesman on Syrian state television.

The military's offensive, launched last month, aimed partly to seize control of a major spring and water pumping station which supplies most of the capital's water. Fighting and damage to the site caused acute water shortages in Damascus this month.

State TV broadcast footage of Syrian soldiers standing in the water pumping station in the village of Ain al-Fija.

The recapture of Wadi Barada signals the fall of another rebel-held area in western Syria, and comes weeks after insurgents were driven from areas they controlled in Aleppo, their last major urban stronghold.

Military support from President Bashar al-Assad's foreign allies, including Russia, Iran and Lebanese group Hezbollah, have been instrumental in helping turn the nearly six-year civil war in his favour.

On Saturday the army took over the spring in Ain al-Fija as part of an agreement reached with rebels, who had held the area since 2012, pro-Damascus media outlets and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

Under the agreement, dozens of rebel fighters were expected to be bussed out of the area on Sunday with their families and head for Idlib province, an insurgent stronghold.

Similar previous deals in western Syria have seen rebels evacuate areas they had held for years and depart with their families for Idlib. The opposition says this amounts to forced population transfers.

The deals have usually been struck in places where government forces and their allies have either besieged rebel-held areas or have gained the upper hand militarily. (Reporting by John Davison and Kinda Makieh in Damascus; Editing by Susan Fenton)</s>Syrian government forces have recaptured all towns and villages in the Wadi Barada valley near Damascus, the Syrian military said on Sunday, in another blow to rebels who have fought for years to unseat President Bashar al-Assad. "Units of our armed forces, together with ... allied forces have achieved their mission in returning security and stability" to the area, the military said in a statement read out by a spokesman on Syrian state television.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters.</s>Syrian government forces have recaptured all towns and villages in the Wadi Barada valley near Damascus, the Syrian military said in a statement on Sunday. "Units of our armed forces, together with ... allied forces have achieved their mission in returning security and stability" to the area, said the statement, read out by a military spokesman on Syrian state TV.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters.</s>Syrian Arab Army soldiers recaptured Ain al-Fijah’s main pumping station, which vitally provides water for the capital Damascus, in Wadi Barada, Sunday.

Engineers are scheduled to arrive in the town this week, to carry out repairs on the facility, which was damaged during fighting between the Syrian Army and the mercenary armed gangs of terrorists.

When the terrorist groups had control over the area, they cut water supplies to Damascus, leaving more than 6 million residents without water.

(Damascus, 29/01/2017, H. Said) ~ The General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces announced that the Syrian Arab army and the popular defense groups and the supporting forces have accomplished their mission of restoring security and stability to the towns and villages in Wadi Barada area in the western countryside of Damascus after a series of successful military operations.

In a statement on Sunday, the General Command said the military operations in Wadi Barada took place in an area of a very complex geography and were carried out with accuracy to avoid civilian casualties.

It pointed out that these operations have contributed to creating the favorable conditions to allow the achievement of settlement and reconciliation agreements in a number of these villages and towns, citing those of Bassima, Ein al-Khadra, deir Muqren, Ein al-Fijeh, Deir Qanoun, Kafr al-Zeit, al-Husseiniyeh, Kafr al-Awamid, Birhalia, Afra and Wadi Barada Souq.

The total area that was liberated in Wadi Barada amounts to 400 km2, according to the Army’s General Command.

The Command reaffirmed in the statement its determination to continue carrying out its national mission of fighting terrorism, expressing its appreciation of the “sincere” efforts played by several national figures and forces that contributed to the restoration of security to Wadi Barada area.</s>The Syrian army said on Sunday that it had recaptured a flashpoint area from rebels near Damascus that supplies water to the capital.

Wadi Barada had been the scene of fierce fighting in recent weeks between regime and rebel forces that tested a fragile nationwide truce and left millions in Damascus facing water shortages.

"Our armed forces ... have accomplished their mission by restoring security and stability in the region of Wadi Barada," the army said in a statement carried by state television.

The announcement came a day after the army entered the water pumping station in Wadi Barada for the first time in four years.

Under a deal with the authorities, rebels can choose to stay in the area but hand over their weapons, or leave to the northern province of Idlib, last major bastion of the armed opposition.

Around 5.5 million people in Damascus and its suburbs have been without water since fighting intensified in the Wadi Barada area in late December.</s>MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Syrian army has fully liberated the Wadi Barada area near the Syrian capital of Damascus, where the main water source is located, from militants, the Army Command said in a statement Sunday.

"Syrian government army units… have completed the mission on restoring security and stability in the villages and towns in Wadi Barada in the western suburbs of Damascus after series of successful military operations," the statement said, as quoted by the SANA news agency.

Earlier in the day, a similar agreement was reportedly signed in the village of Ein Al Fejeh, where the main water source is located.

Over 6 million residents of Damascus were left without water after militants cut Damascus of water supply. The repair brigades have already arrived in the area to restore the water connection.

A picture shows the area around the Ain al-Fijeh water pumping station, in the countryside of Damascus, on January 29, 2017, after the Syrian army entered it for the first time in four years after a deal with rebels who first seized it in 2012

Since 2011, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war, with government forces fighting against numerous opposition and terrorist groups, including al-Nusra Front and Daesh, banned in a range of countries, including Russia.</s>The Syrian army has fully liberated the Wadi Barada area near the Syrian capital of Damascus, where the main water source is located, from militants, the Army Command said in a statement Sunday."Syrian government army units... have completed the mission on restoring security and stability in the villages and towns in Wadi Barada in the western suburbs of Damascus after series of successful military operations," the statement said, as quoted by the SANA news agency.According to the military, their actions made it possible to sign ceasefire agreements in some of the villages, thus, letting civilians and militants leave the area without clashes.Over 6 million residents of Damascus were left without water after militants cut Damascus of water supply. The repair brigades have already arrived in the area to restore the water connection.Since 2011, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war, with government forces fighting against numerous opposition and terrorist groups, including al-Nusra Front and Daesh, banned in a range of countries, including Russia.</s>The Syrian army said on Sunday that it had recaptured a flashpoint area from rebels near Damascus that supplies water to the capital.

Wadi Barada had been the scene of fierce fighting in recent weeks between regime and rebel forces that tested a fragile nationwide truce and left millions in Damascus facing water shortages.

“Our armed forces… have accomplished their mission by restoring security and stability in the region of Wadi Barada”, the army said in a statement carried by state television.

The announcement came a day after the army entered the water pumping station in Wadi Barada for the first time in four years.

Under a deal with the authorities, rebels can choose to stay in the area but hand over their weapons, or leave to the northern province of Idlib, last major bastion of the armed opposition.

Hundreds of rebels began to leave Wada Barada on Sunday for Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

Around 5.5 million people in Damascus and its suburbs have been without water since fighting intensified in the Wadi Barada area in late December.

Government forces have battled to regain control of Wadi Barada and the water installation at Ain al-Fijeh since rebels overran the area before Christmas.

Damascus governor Alaa Ibrahim said Sunday that repair work had begun at the plant, adding that while damage to the facility was “significant”, he hoped mains water would resume to the capital “soon”.

Earlier in January, residents agreed a truce with Syrian authorities to allow maintenance teams into the area, but the deal was called off and violence flared after a chief mediator between the two sides was murdered.

More than 310,000 people have been killed since Syria’s conflict broke out in March 2011 with anti-government protests that were brutally repressed.

Many battlefronts have quietened since a nationwide ceasefire by regime backer Russia and opposition ally Turkey came into effect last month.
The Syrian Army recaptures all of the towns and villages in the Barada river valley near Damascus from rebel forces.