Syrian forces reach main water spring feeding Damascus

The Syrian army reached the Ain Fijeh spring northwest of the capital Damascus on Saturday, hoisting the Syrian flag over that area following a month of battles with rebels there to capture that area and restore drinking water to Damascus, a military source told Xinhua.

The Syrian army entered Ain Fijeh, after reaching an "initial" agreement with the rebels there for their evacuation from that area, possibly toward the northwestern province of Idlib, the source said, on condition of anonymity.

He added that maintenance workers are bracing to enter the village to fix the Ain Fijeh spring, the main water source feeding the capital's over five million inhabitants.

The recent development comes as battles have raged since Dec. 22, when the water was cut off from the capital, with the government accusing the rebels of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front of severing the flow of water to Damascus.

The battles were penetrated with a few pauses, in which efforts were being exerted to reach a deal with the rebels. However, all previous efforts had failed without achieving its intended goals, as the rebels of Nusra were reluctant to leave the area, insisting on rendering flat all efforts to defuse the tension in that area.

It's worth mentioning that several rebel groups were stationing in Barada Valley, with most of them establishing reconciliation with the government, except Nusra, which is designated as a terror group by the UN and excluded from a currently-underway cease-fire that began on Dec. 30.

Ain Fijeh is one of ten towns in the Barada Valley region northwest of Damascus. The army captured all of the towns, before finally reaching Ain Fijeh.

Now, the army seems in control of the spring, and the workers will start fixing the damage, as a prelude to resuming the water flow to Damascus, whose residents have been struggling with the scarcity of water since Dec. 22.

The water authorities have implemented emergency plans to meet around 30 percent of the daily needs of Damascus city residents on a rotational basis until water infrastructure is restored to its previous capacity.

source: Xinhua