© AFP 2018/ STRINGER
"Today the largest rally against the militants ever took place in Kafr Batna," Syrian human rights activist Ammar Jamal told reporters. "Up to 10,000 people went to the streets demanding the militants to leave their settlement."
Witness reports on social media hold that militants opened fire on the demonstrators, reportedly killing one and injuring nine.
According to Jamal, the citizens marching shouted slogans in support of the Syrian Arab Army and the government and demanded that the militants besieging their town either leave entirely or provide passage to the humanitarian corridor for noncombatants.
Such rallies have become a common sight in Eastern Ghouta in the last two weeks. Citizens from numerous settlements have raised Syrian flags in plazas and demanded that militants leave Ghouta and allow access to the humanitarian corridors.
The militants in Eastern Ghouta fire mortars at Damascus every day from nearby settlements, including Kafr Batna.
Comment: Despite the terrorists' efforts to prevent anyone from leaving, more than 300 people have succeeded in escaping East Ghouta thanks to the humanitarian corridor organized by the Russian Syria reconciliation center. The terrorists are fighting a losing battle. The same script that played itself out in Aleppo is repeating in Ghouta. The Syrians will liberate the entire area. Whatever terrorists aren't killed in fighting will be allowed safe passage to Idlib. They're just prolonging the inevitable.