About a week ago, the Syrian army began rehabilitating three air defense battalions in the southwestern area of Damascus, with the assistance of experts from the ranks of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
In a conversation with the Syrian news network - "Orient Net", an activist from the people of Zakia told journalist Muhammad Al-Sheikh: The three battalions are subordinate to the 7th division of the Syrian army, and they have the SAM-5 and Volga air defense missiles mounted on missile launchers in addition to the vehicles belonging to the units The air defense and those equipped with Shilka machine guns.
The activist added that the Syrian "Al-Abbasa" and "Alxar" battalions withdrew from their place of deployment, with all their equipment and ammunition after units from the Free Syrian Army took control of large areas in the region in 2012, and there was a fear that these battalions would fall into their hands with their warehouses that contained air defense missiles, as well as Russian-made "Cobra" shoulder-fired missiles.
As for Tel Dirkhabia - Tel Dirkhabia, the Free Syrian Army units took it over during a specific operation in May 2016, but the Syrian Army previously emptied the battalions' warehouses of all specific weapons and kept only heavy and medium machine guns there.