1,500 Families Return to War-Ravaged Town near Damascus

State news agency SANA quoted Ibrahim as saying that the returning families are part of 10,000 others that had fled al-Zabadani when the battles there were raging before the Syrian army retook it and nearby areas in April 2017 in a deal for the evacuation of the rebels toward Northwestern Syria.

Ibrahim said during a tour in the town on Saturday that contracts have been signed to complete the clearing of rubble and the wreckage from the town.

The town has sustained huge destruction due to the intensity of the battles as it was one of the first that fell to the militants in Northwestern Damascus in January 2012.

The town is of strategic importance due to its proximity to the Lebanese border, as the rebels had used it as a conduit to smuggle fighters and weapons between Syria and Lebanon.

The Lebanese Hezbollah group has had a big role in retrieving the town.