Syrian army has stepped up its operations in the strategic town of Yabroud in rural Damascus which opposition militants believe it is the last base for a possible attack against the capital.

Syrian army has stepped up its operations in the strategic town of Yabroud in rural Damascus which opposition militants believe it is the last base for a possible attack against the capital.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday that army helicopters launched a major operation over militant bases near Yabroud, which lies on the strategic highway linking Damascus to Homs.

Army units have also destroyed a number of cars equipped with machineguns, leaving all terrorists inside them in Yabroud killed, a military source told SANA news agency.

On Sunday the army said it was in full control of the Sahel village, which was an important base for the militants near Yabroud.

Also on Sunday, al- Kuwaiti strategic hill - overlooking the whole area - has been restored by the national military.

The militants occupying the town belong to the so-called Free Syrian Army, al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front, Islamic Front and a few from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL).

SANA reported that army units have destroyed terrorists’ hideouts in the vicinity of Aleppo central prison, Hilan, al-Jbaileh, al-Kholandi oil station, Kwairis, Erbid, al-Jadideh, Heritan, Diman, Sada’aya, Bustan al-Qaser and al-Mislmiyeh in Aleppo countryside.

A number of terrorists have been also killed and others injured in the industrial city and Sheikh Najjar.

SANA sources added that an army unit foiled an infiltration attempt by terrorists towards al-Zebdiyeh in Aleppo city, inflicting heavy losses upon the terrorists.

In Daraa, the national military killed and injured all members of an armed terrorist group in the western part of Samlin village.

Syria was hit by a violent unrest since mid-March 2011, where the Syrian government accuses foreign actors, mainly the Saudi Arabia and Turkey, of orchestrating the conflict by supporting the militant opposition groups with arms and money.