PHOTO: President Assad with troops northeast of Damascus on Sunday
President Assad has made his first visit to regime troops in 18 months, traveling to territory captured near Syria’s capital Damascus.
The President’s office features video and photographs of Assad in the Marj al-Sultan area, including a base retaken in February from rebels. He is shown at an iftar meal breaking the daytime fast in the holy month of Ramadan.
The President’s visit was not announced until he had returned to the capital. It came as rebels claimed that they had downed a regime helicopter near Marj al-Sultan.
Assad’s last trip near a frontline was on New Year’s Eve in 2014 to Jobar in northeast Damascus.
The Syrian military and its allies have taken part of the East Ghouta area near Damascus this year, amid intense bombing of villages and towns. In February, they gained Marj al-Sultan, northeast of Damascus, while last month they moved into much of the southern part of the area.
