Syrian army restores areas fallen to IS south of Damascus

DAMASCUS, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian government forces recaptured several building blocks that had fallen to the Islamic State (IS) earlier on Wednesday in a southern Damascus' neighborhood, a military source told Xinhua.

Following hours of counter-offensives, the Syrian forces succeeded to retake 12 buildings the IS militants took in a surprise attack on the Tadamun neighborhood, the military source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Earlier in the day, the IS militants unleashed a surprises offensive on areas under the government control in Tadamun, capturing 12 buildings, in one of the most violent offensive in months, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

An intense showdown between the government forces and the IS militants has ensued the offensive, said the observatory, adding that the Syrian forces unleashed a counter-offensive in that area to retrieve what they had lost during the offensive.

The IS militants have lost all of their key strongholds in Syria either to the Syrian forces or the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, holding a few pockets in northeastern Syria as well as in the southern countryside of Damascus.

The attack on Tadamun comes in the context of the IS' bid to prove its capability to wage attacks and undermine the relative calm in the capital. Enditem