FILE IMAGE: Russian Military Police service members are in Syria
Syrian security forces and the Russian Military Police are conducting a joint combing operation in the newly-liberated region of Eastern Ghouta near the Syrian capital of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on March 16.
According to the monitoring group, the Syrian and Russian forces are using advanced equipment to search for hidden weapons caches. The search is taking place in the farms of Jisreen, Mohammedia, al-Aftaris, al-Nashabiyah and Marj al-Sultan.
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) liberated Eastern Ghouta last April after besieging the region for more than five years. Radical militants left the region under an evacuation agreement, while most locals opted to join the reconciliation process.
The SOHR said that many of these local fighters are supporting the ongoing operation with information about possible locations of weapons caches belonging to militants.
Syrian security forces uncovered tons of weapons during previous combing operations in Eastern Ghouta. Most of these weapons were supplied by the U.S. and its allies, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and even Israel.
