BEIRUT — Heavy clashes between Syrian troops and rebels trying to break a government siege in the suburbs of Damascus have killed at least 160 fighters over two days, activists said Sunday.
Forces loyal to President Bashar Assad have laid siege for months to rebel strongholds in the Ghouta area east of Damascus, preventing food, clean water, medicine, and other supplies from entering in a bid to crush resistance.
The tactic, which activists say has led to hunger, has helped government troops capture a string of rebel-held areas over the past month on Damascus’ doorstep.
The government push around the capital has coincided with gains by Assad’s forces around the northern city of Aleppo as well as a new offensive in the rugged Qalamoun region north of Damascus.
The death toll is unusually high for such a short period, testifying to the ferocity of the fighting. It also points to the increasingly sectarian nature of the conflict, with Sunni Muslim radicals bolstering rebel ranks and Shi’ite militants from Iraq and Lebanon fighting on the government side.
The recent victories have shifted the momentum of the conflict in Assad’s favor and given the Syrian leader greater leverage in proposed peace talks that the United States and Russia are trying to convene to end the civil war.
After nearly three years of civil war in Syria, relief workers from the United Nations, foreign governments, and international humanitarian groups are trying to cope with one of the biggest challenging refugee crisis in decades.