DAMASCUS, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian government forces have intensified shelling and rocket fire, targeting al-Qaida-linked militant groups in the eastern countryside of the capital Damascus, activists said Tuesday.
Over the past three days, the residents of Damascus have slept and woke up to the rattling sound of rockets slamming the Ayn Tarma and Jobar areas in the Eastern Ghouta region, east of Damascus.
The shelling has been targeting the positions of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and the allied Failaq al-Rahman group, in what appeared to be a determination by the Syrian army to retake those areas in Eastern Ghouta.
On the other hand, the rebels' Jaish al-Islam group is also attacking positions of Failaq al-Rahman due to many reasons.
The first is the cease-fire that has recently been reached between Russia and the rebels under the mediation of Egypt in Eastern Ghouta.
The cease-fire in parts of Eastern Ghouta included Jaish al-Islam, which is trying to clean its page and be part of the political negotiation, by attacking the excluded militants of the al-Qaida-linked groups.
The second reason is the Gulf crisis between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as Saudi Arabia supports Jaish al-Islam while Qatar backs Failaq al-Rahman and the Nusra Front.
A well-informed source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the heavy shelling by the Syrian army is a prelude to a wide-scale ground offensive against the al-Qaida-affiliated groups in eastern Damascus.
