Syrian troops kill dozens of gunmen on outskirts of Damascus

Syrian Army soldiers have killed dozens of foreign-sponsored militants during mop-up operations on the outskirts of Damascus, Press TV reports.

A number of gunmen were killed during intense clashes with Syrian troops in the town of Daraya, located 8 kilometers (5 miles) southwest of Damascus, on Tuesday, the state-run SANA news agency reported.

In addition, a unit of the Syrian Army killed several snipers in the town. Government troops also destroyed a car loaded with weapons and munitions in a separate operation.

Elsewhere, Syrian troops attacked gunmen and killed a large number of them in the town of al-Nabek, located some 80 kilometers (about 50 miles) northeast of Damascus, on Tuesday.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

In an interview recently broadcast on German television, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that the government did not start the conflict and the militant groups were the ones killing Syrian citizens and destroying the country's infrastructure.

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