DAMASCUS, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Al-Qaida-linked groups have launched a wide-scale offensive to capture a key military base in the eastern countryside of the capital Damascus, a sign that the al-Qaida militants are not backing down easily, a monitor group reported on Monday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said that 40 Syrian airstrikes on Monday targeted the positions of the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee (LLC) in the city of Harasta in the northeastern countryside of Damascus, part of the Eastern Ghouta region, following the offensive of the rebels on the strategic Vehicle Base in that area.

A day earlier, the LLC and allied militants besieged the base after a broad offensive with the aim of defeating the Syrian army and capture that key base in Harasta, according to the UK-based watchdog group.

Other activists said tens of Syrian soldiers are besieged in parts of the base, as the rebels succeeded to capture other parts of that facility.

The rebels have also captured areas between Harasta and Arbeen neighborhood, cutting thus the government forces' supply routes to the base.

The base is the largest military facility in the Eastern Ghouta region, stretching from Harasta to Arbeen.

The base contains large numbers of soldiers, including Republican Guards, as well as big weapon depots.

During the war, the base has become a major operation center and supply facility to the Syrian forces inside the Eastern Ghouta region, which contains many towns and neighborhoods.

This attack proved that the al-Qaida-linked groups are still capable of carrying out attacks following the defeats they suffered in the Western Ghouta region, where the Syrian army captured all towns and villages there after a humiliating evacuation of the LLC toward rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The group is now emerging as the major terror group, following the near defeat of the Islamic State group in 2017 in all strongholds in Syria.

The Syrian army has already started an operation in the southern countryside of Idlib against the LLC, with Syrian government officials stressing that the war on terror will not finish until the elimination of the last terrorist in Syria.

The LLC has previously been known as the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, which was designated as a terror group by the UN. The group later attempted to polish its image by announcing cutting ties with al-Qaida as well as changing its name, but such attempts couldn't fool anyone and it remained labeled as a terror group.?