Syrian Air Force conducts nonstop airstrikes over ISIS stronghold

Syrian state media reported Monday that the Syrian Army has conducted precision and intensive airstrikes on fortified militant positions in the Al-Hajar al-Aswad area to the south of Damascus.

According to SANA, Syria’s state news agency, the Syrian Air Force carried out an intensive bombardment of fortified positions and infiltration routes used by terrorists in the area and inflicted heavy personnel and equipment losses upon them.

The reporter stressed that military operations against terrorist groups in the area will not stop until they are completely wiped out from the south of Damascus. At the same time, the Syrian government is beginning to implement the evacuation agreement reached Sunday with the jihadist group Tahrir al-Sham, also known as al-Qaeda in Syria.

The agreement calls for the evacuation of militants from areas controlled by the militia in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near southern Damascus to the northern city of Idlib in exchange for freeing 5,000 civilians from the towns of Kefraya and Fua. Al-Hajar al-Aswad is one of the neighborhoods of the besieged Palestinian refugee camp.

The agreement reportedly gives fighters and their families the choice to evacuate the areas of Yalda, Babila and Beit Sahem or hand over their weapons and remain, according to SANA. Implementation of the deal is expected to be completed before May 15.

The rebel pocket in southern Damascus has been the focus of a massive bombardment and intense fighting since the Syrian Army recaptured Eastern Ghouta, another strategic Damascus suburb, earlier this month. Syrian government forces have since intensified their efforts to eliminate the last pockets of terrorists in greater Damascus.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011. Numerous opposition factions and terrorist groups like Daesh have been attempting to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad and establish control.