BEIRUT, January 9. /TASS/. The Syrian army has resumed its anti-terrorist operation in the Wadi Barada area to the west of Damascus after the January 7 ceasefire was disrupted, the Al-Watan newspaper reported on Monday.

Government troops and militias have captured four settlements in the area and established control over strategic heights of Dahr Al-Masabi. The Syrian forces are carrying out an offensive in Kfar Zeit, the stronghold of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly known as the terrorist group, the Al-Nusra Front, outlawed in Russia)

The operation in the Wadi Barada area is aimed at restoring water supply to the Syrian capital.

Damascus was deprived of 80% of water resources after the December 24 sabotage act committed by extremists from the Jabhat Fath ash-Sham group (formerly, the Al Nusra Front, a terrorist organization, outlawed in Russia).

Syria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement sent to the UN Security Council last week that the terrorists blew up the main source of water and also contaminated it with diesel fuel. "Over 7 million citizens of Damascus, including children and women, suffer from dire shortage of water now," the document said.

On Saturday, repair teams arrived in the Wadi Barada area, but the terrorists did not allow them to reach the Ain al-Fijah spring, which supplies fresh water to Damascus.

There are 14 settlements in the area and most of them are controlled by armed groups.

Governor of the Rif Dimashq Province, Alla Munir Ibrahim, said militants from some groups were ready to strike a local ceasefire agreement in the Wadi Barada area and fully halt combat actions. However, the move is hampered by Jabhat al-Nusra which is not covered by the nationwide truce that entered into force on December 30 in Syria.