PHOTO: The pumping facility for the al-Fija springs in Wadi Barada, damaged by regime airstrikes in late December
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UPDATE 1100 GMT: Local activists say about 1,500 rebels and family members are expected to leave Wadi Barada today, under the auspices of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, for Idlib Province in northwest Syria.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: After a five-week offensive, Hezbollah and regime forces have finally taken control of the al-Fija springs in Wadi Barada, northwest of Damascus.
Rebels withdrew west towards the village of Deir Maqrin as the pro-Assad forces moved in on Saturday. Hezbollah’s military mediu unit said fighters had occupied the nearby village of al-Fija.
Hezbollah and the regime launched the offensive on December 22, continuing despite a Russian-Turkish-brokered ceaseifire on December 29 and a Russian-Turkish-Iranian truce earlier. After weeks of near-constant bombing, shelling, and ground assaults, they had taken three of Wadi Barada’s 10 villages before today.
The pumping station for the springs was damaged by regime airstrikes in late December, cutting off supplies to more than five million people in and near Damascus. Two agreements to allow Russian engineers to assess and repair the facilities collapsed, one when the mutally-agreed negotiator was shot and killed.
See Syria Daily, Jan 26: Ceasefire? Pro-Assad Offensive Continues Against Wadi Barada
It is unclear if the rebel withdrawal from the springs is part of a wider agreement for their departure from the area for Idlib Province in northwest Syria.
Wadi Barada still has between 50,000 and 80,000 people, despite thousands fleeing the regime attacks. It has been held by the opposition since 2012, but has been subjected to an ongoing siege.
The opposition had maintained the water supply to Damascus except for occasional interruptions, the most serious occurring for a couple of weeks in 2015.
Images of the destruction in Wadi Barada: