Rebels lose more ground to Assad’s advancing forces in Syria

BEIRUT — Syrian troops captured a major rebel stronghold east of the capital Damascus on Saturday and took large parts of another, squeezing insurgents and forcing thousands to flee to regions controlled by the government.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Oways al-Shami of the Syrian Civil Defense said troops have taken Kafr Batna and large parts of nearby Saqba.

The captured areas are another blow to opposition fighters who have lost more than 70 percent of the region known as eastern Ghouta since President Bashar Assad’s forces began a crushing offensive under the cover of air strikes on Feb. 18.