(Presstv) -- The push began on Tuesday, zooming in on Harasta District in Eastern Ghouta, where terrorists with the Ahrar al-Sham outfit have gone on rampage over the past days.

Reuters reported Wednesday that Syrian forces are set to conduct a swoop there on the Military Vehicles Administration Army base, which has been besieged by the terrorists.

The report quoted locals and witnesses as saying that the army is amassing elite forces in preparation for the offensive against the militant siege.

At least 200 Syrian troops are believed to be trapped within the premises.

Damascus-based Sama TV television network said combined Syrian military operations and Russian aerial backup had killed more than 200 gunmen in the area on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, it was reported that a Syrian army unit had liberated six villages and towns from Takfiri terrorists in the northern countryside of the northwestern city of Hama.

Moscow has been providing air cover to Syrian army operations since 2014. Aided by the aerial support and Iranian military advisory assistance, government forces began reversing the terrorists’ gains.

Separately, reports said that the US-led coalition, which has been purportedly fighting Daesh since 2014, killed 12 Syrian civilians, including a number of children, in the town of al-Sousah in the eastern suburbs of the northeastern city of Dayr al-Zawr.

The US-led coalition continues its aerial operations despite the collapse of Daesh both in Syria and neighboring Iraq.

(Photo: Smoke rises from buildings following an airstrike on the terrorist-besieged town of Arbin in the Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on January 2, 2018. AFP)