During the Syrian civil war , Moadamiyah was encircled and besieged by pro-government forces from April 2013 , and was one of the areas of Damascus hit by a sarin attack on 21 August 2013 ( the Ghouta chemical attack ) . When a '' Wall Street Journal '' reporter visited the town in October 2013 , the population of the still-besieged town was down to an estimated 12,500 , and residents said food supplies were exhausted . The rebels in control of the town agreed to surrender to the Syrian Army in September 2016 . The take-over occurred on 19 October 2016 , most of the rebels choosing to leave for Idlib along with over 2000 residents
Ghouta chemical attack
Ghouta chemical attack
Muadamiyat al-Sham