Syrian troops advance to Damascus' rebellious suburb

• The Syrian troops have advanced to the rebel-held Jobar suburb of Damascus, SANA reported.

• Troops have eliminated "armed terrorists" and restored stability and security to Barlaman Roundabout.

• The rebels have unleashed several mortar attacks recently, causing injuries and property losses.

DAMASCUS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian troops have advanced to the rebel-held Jobar suburb of the capital Damascus, the state- news agency SANA reported Saturday.

Troops have eliminated numbers of "armed terrorists" and restored stability and security to the Barlaman Roundabout, the Cultural Center, and the municipal building, SANA said.

Jobar is part of the sprawling al-Gouta countryside outlining the eastern part of Damascus. The area has witnessed intense fighting over the past year before the rebels took hold of large swathes of the area and other adjacent suburbs.

The rebels in that area have unleashed several mortar attacks recently, causing injuries and property losses in nearby districts such as the Christian-dominated al-Qassa neighborhood.

Opposition activists, meanwhile, reported government troops' renewed shelling on the Damascus' suburb of al-Qaboun and villages of the southern province of Daraa on Saturday.

The Syrian crisis has started in March 2011. The crisis has begun with peaceful protests demanding reforms and freedoms and quickly evolved into an armed insurgency. The UN says that more than 70,000 people have been killed and millions of others were displaced internally and externally during the two-year-old crisis.

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