Date: Mar 28, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Douma rebels dig in as troops surround town BEIRUT / DAMASCUS: Syrian troops massed around the town of Douma Tuesday after a powerful rebel faction refused to evacuate, threatening the resumption of the ferocious air and ground offensive that has driven rebels from the rest of Eastern Ghouta. Thousands of fighters have already evacuated the Damascus suburbs with their family members and other civilians, but Jaish al-Islam said it was determined to stay in its stronghold, Douma, the largest town in Eastern Ghouta. “The negotiations are to remain, not to leave,” Jaish al-Islam spokesman Hamza Bayraqdar told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV from inside Douma. Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, gave the group 48 hours to agree to leave or face a final assault on the town, where Syrian opposition activists say some 150,000 civilians are trapped. The Russian military has said it will not tolerate the presence of armed groups near the capital. Residents trapped in Douma said they wanted a quick settlement to end the siege. “Jaish al-Islam has taken the decision to stay put, but there is hope they will change their mind,” said a Douma-based opposition activist who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Pro-government media said Damascus was sending in reinforcements. Hezbollah-run Al-Manar TV said Jaish al-Islam, which is only negotiating with Russia, was refusing to discuss the release of prisoners and was obstructing the talks. Tens if not hundreds of thousands languish in Syria’s notorious prisons, where severe mistreatment and torture are rampant. The government has refused to negotiate any mass prisoner release despite pressure from the U.N. Late Monday, rebels released 28 prisoners to the government. Last month, the government launched a massive ground operation with Russian air support to retake the region. After weeks of heavy bombardment, two other rebel groups as well as Al-Qaeda militants withdrew from their strongholds, leaving Douma as the last major town in rebel hands. More than 1,600 civilians have been killed in the government offensive, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Around 7,000 people left Eastern Ghouta for Syrian rebel territory near the Turkish border, the third large group to leave under the Russia-brokered deal. “We faced two choices: Go to Idlib or make peace with the regime,” said Sakhr Yousef, a 24-year-old fighter with the Failaq al-Rahman faction, as he was preparing to leave Eastern Ghouta with his wife and four young siblings. “Making peace with the regime is very difficult, making peace with those who bombed us with criminal Russia,” he added in a voice message to Reuters, referring to Assad’s main backer in the conflict. The rebels evacuated Tuesday left from a pocket encompassing the towns of Arbin, Ain Tarma and Zamalka that was held by Failaq al-Rahman rebels. Some 110,000 people have fled into government-held territory, most of them on foot or motorbike, through corridors opened up by the army and its Russian allies, according to state media. The United Nations says around 55,000 of them are housed in very basic conditions in regime-run temporary shelters on the edge of Ghouta. Also Tuesday, 27 people were killed and 58 wounded in Damascus after mortar shelling from the rebel-held area, TASS news agency reported, citing Russia’s Defense Ministry.