SAA caught British troops sneaking around E. Ghouta. The plot thickens.

The other day I wondered aloud whether the looming collapse of the entire insurgency in Syria, as signaled by the SAA's push to liberate E. Ghouta, explained the sudden determination by the "Usual Suspects" foreign powers to topple the Syrian government at all costs. If the following report from Sputnik is somewhere in the ballpark then, yes, it had something to do with E. Ghouta but not in the way I'd guessed. 

And to emphasize a point in the report: FIRST the SAA caught the Brits THEN they launched an operation in E. Ghouta: 

Syrian Army Captures British Militants Troops in Eastern Ghouta – Reports
00:06 12.04.2018
Spuutnik

A number of British forces have been captured by the Syrian army during military operations in Eastern Ghouta, according to reports by local media.

According to a report by Al-Mayadeen news channel [Lebanon] cited by Fars News [Iran state news agency], a number of British troops have been captured during the Syrian Arab Army's operations in Eastern Ghouta.

They are believed to be a part of international military forces deployed in the region to launch a ground assault in Damascus in cooperation with the US. According to the report, the US and other NATO countries, Jordan and Israel planned to launch attacks from several fronts, but the plot failed as Syrian armed forces made a series of rapid advances in Eastern Ghouta in March. The plot allegedly involved massive airstrikes by US and Israeli planes that were supposed to pave the way for ground forces.

"After the plot was disclosed, the Syrian-Russian military commanders started operations in Eastern Ghouta to repel it," the sources cited by Al-Mayadeen and Fars said.

Since the plot failed due to rapid advances by the Syrian army, the US cancelled all operations planned for these foreign forces and ordered an immediate withdrawal from Eastern Ghouta through the eastern suburbs of Damascus, including Douma.  

The US and Turkey sought to rescue foreign "militants and agents operating for Israel, Jordan and NATO," now trapped in Ghouta, and move them to Idlib, the source says.

The Turkish initiative to help with the evacuation of al Qaeda/Nusra Front terrorists from Ghouta has reportedly been a coverup for "special foreign forces that were among the ranks of the Nusra Front terror organization.

"Therefore, the US has ordered Jaysh al-Islam, Faylaq al-Rahman and other terrorist groups to allow the evacuation of civilians from Eastern Ghouta to army-held regions in a bid to provide the ground for these foreign agents to also leave Ghouta in disguise and enable the Turkish intelligence service to send them to specified regions in At-Tanf and northern Syria which are under the control of US troops," the source said.

[END REPORT]

I sense a little propagandizing by Hezbollah and/or Iran's military in some of the details of the plot, but the basic story is plausible. It would be even more plausible if the Syrian government produced those British troops for the public to see. However, the government could be looking at the troops as a bargaining chip, so to speak. 

Here is the FARS report that Sputnik referenced.

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