After the military defeat of the rebels in the Battle of Damascus, sporadic clashes continued in some parts of the capital, where the rebellion was using guerilla tactics and hit-and-run attacks against the security forces.

In early August 2012, the Syrian Army largely escalated its anti guerilla operations in order to restore the status quo ante bellum to the governorate.

When the Battle of Damascus started, the rebels stormed two government buildings and reportedly detained 40 soldiers while seizing a quantity of weapons.

[17] On 22 August, residents and activists reported heavy shelling in the southern Damascus districts of Kfar Souseh, Darayya, Qadam and Nahr Aisha.

[22] State media reported that the Syrian Army discovered and killed the members of a rebel group in the Nair Aisha neighbourhood of the capital.

[25][failed verification] Also, a bomb went off in the Mezzeh district between the Justice Palace and the Information Ministry[26] On 12 September, the military started shelling the town of Al-Hajar al-Aswad, on the southern outskirts of Damascus.

[27] The shelling continued until 19 September, when government troops advanced into al-Hajar al-Aswad, as well as the rebel-held al-Qadam and al-A'sali neighborhoods of Damascus, after the rebels retreated from the area during the morning.

[47][failed verification] On 26 August, the SOHR updated its report on Darayya, saying that 320 people had been killed since the start of the offensive,[48] the majority of them being executed in the previous few days.

[52] On 29 August, journalist Robert Fisk, of "The Independent", entered the town and spoke with local residents, some out of earshot of Syrian officials.

[53] On 27 August, a rebel commander stated that government forces had been moving, since the start of the offensive, from the west of Damascus, around the capital, to the east towards the Ghouta area.

Earlier during the day, an Army attack helicopter was shot down over the Qaboon district of eastern Damascus, during clashes.

Following the attacks, opposition activists reported that airstrikes killed 60 people in the adjacent area of Zamalka and an unspecified number in Saqba.

[59] On 5 October 2012, rebels advanced in the eastern Damascus suburbs, capturing an air force base and taking caches of missiles.

Videos on the internet showed dozens of rebels dressed in army fatigues celebrating with smoke billowing from the base behind them.

Meanwhile, rebels in Damascus captured an officer from the elite Republican Guard and provided video footage of the man, who identified himself as Colonel Ahmad Reaidi.

[63] On 30 October, government airstrikes targeted the neighbourhood of Hajar al-Aswad in Damascus city and the suburbs of Yabroud, Hazza and Harasta.

The PFLP-GC leader Ahmed Jibril and his men have been accused of harassing the camps residents and attacking FSA fighters.

[68] Many Palestinian men from the camp also joined other FSA units and fought with them in the Damascus districts of Tadamon and Al-Hajar Al-Aswad.

On 7 October, the military stormed the rebel-held towns of al-Hameh and Qudsaya, just west of Damascus, pushing rebel forces out.

The Syrian Army has also completely locked down the border with Lebanon to prevent reinforcements and weapons to come from the south of Damascus.

[21] The number of reported execution has been described as unprecedented by the opposition activists and several of them see it as a punishment and an intimidation on the population who shelter the rebels near the capital.

[74] The rebel group LCCSyria, claimed that 310 people were killed in the Damascus countryside on 25 August, the highest daily death toll in a single place of the civil war reported by this organization.

[76] By early October, opposition activists stated that government troops had managed to push out most rebel forces from the southern outskirts of Damascus following the offensive, mainly due to shortages of ammunition and, in some cases, after running out of local support.