The Syrian army waited until yesterday evening [Aug. 14] to announce that it fully controls the town of Al-Maliha in the region of Damascus, after 130 days of fighting and hours after the news had already spread in the media.
The army waited before making the announcement because of the complex task of combing the tunnel networks and the many booby-traps in residential buildings, where snipers hid until their final moments.
Even before the army’s announcement, pro-government media outlets announced that the army-Hezbollah alliance took control of Al-Maliha, while state television announced that significant progress was made in the town, in a reference to the success of the army’s tactic to force the gunmen, most notably from Jaish al-Islam and Jabhat al-Nusra, to withdraw through the only outlet left open: a 300-meter path to east Ghouta, specifically to the towns of Jesrin and Zibdin.