The sources said that the pro-government forces, who had tactically retreated from parts of the strategic Maheen region on Thursday, have launched a new battle against the ISIL.
“The Syrian army, the National Defense Forces (NDF) and the Lebanese Hezbollah have reportedly broken through the ISIL’s first defense lines around Hawareen, after fierce clashes with the militants,” the sources in Sadad said.
“Parts of Hawareen have been recaptured in the Syrian forces’ operations,” the sources said.
“The Russian fighter jets also have conducted combat sorties over the ISIL positions to cover the ground forces. The ISIL concentration centers in Quaryatayn and Maheen have been targeted heavily by the Russian warplane,” the sources added.
“The pro-government forces are resolved to push back the ISIL from Maheen region, Hawareen and Quaryatayn to pave the way for the liberation of the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur),” the sources underlined.
On Thursday, the Syrian army withdrew from the town of Maheen.
The Syrian army reportedly targeted the terrorists’ positions in the city with massive artillery fire, specially in areas in the vicinity of Maheen.
The Syrian Army and the National Defense Forces (NDF), backed up by the Russian air force, had captured Maheen in Eastern Homs province on November 23.
The Syrian army men made a surprise attack on Ahrar al-Sham terrorist groups, killed many of them and destroyed their military grid, the sources said.
“In addition to large-scale operations of the Syrian army and its allies from the popular forces and Hezbollah fighters, the Syrian forces conduct surprise attacks on the militants’ convoys and military columns across the Northern province of Aleppo,” the sources added.
“Such types of attacks are aimed at weakening the second and third defense lines of the militants,” the sources said.
Opposition sources also confirmed the killing of 50 Ahrar al-Sham militants.
Earlier reports said that several terrorists from Jeish al-Fatah group, including a senior field commander, were killed in clashes with the Syrian Army and popular forces in the Southern part of Aleppo province on Friday.
Walid Karim al-Orfi, a senior commander in the Jeish al-Fatah ranks, was killed in fierce clashes with the Syrian soldiers and the National Defense Forces (NDF), the sources said.
“Al-Orfi was originally from the Central Homs province,” they further added.
“The terrorist group’s military hardware was also destroyed in the Syrian government forces’ attack,” the sources went on to say.
The militant groups have suffered heavy causalities as a result of the Syrian forces and the Russian air forces’ continued offensive against the terrorists’ defense lines across the Northern province of Aleppo.
The Hashd al-Shaabi’s reaction came after Turkey refused to withdraw its battalion of hundreds of soldiers dispatched to an area near the city of Mosul in Nineveh province on the pretext of providing military training to the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.
“The Iraqi popular forces reject the presence of any foreign troops in Iraq without permission of the Baghdad government and they will treat the aggressors the same way they confront the ISIL,” Iraqi volunteer forces spokesman Riyan al-Kaldani told FNA on Friday.
He said it is strange that the Iraqi Kurdistan region’s government has remained silent about Turkey’s aggression.
The Iraqi volunteer forces reiterated that the presence of foreign forces in Iraq is regarded as an act of aggression, and said the Iraqi government should take the necessary measures to expel the Turkish troops and “if these forces do not leave Iraq, they will see the harsh reaction of the Iraqi popular forces”.
Head of Iraq’s Badr Organization Hadi al-Ameri also warned on Monday that his forces are fully prepared to launch strikes at the US military bases and Turkish troops in Iraq.
“We will target all the military bases of the US in Iraq,” the Arabic-language al-Mosle news website quoted al-Ameri as saying in reaction to the US interferences in Iraq.
He, meantime, pointed to Turkey’s interferences in Iraq, and said, “The Turkish government should know that we will destroy all its tanks if it does not withdraw from the city of Mosul.”
On Sunday, another senior commander of Iraq’s volunteer forces lashed out at the US for planning to send special forces to Northern Iraq, and said that Washington is in pursuit of specific political incentives through such measures.
“The recent statements of US Secretary of Defense about dispatch of elite forces to Northern Iraq on the pretext of fighting the ISIL is aimed at eliminating the quadrilateral coalition of Iran, Russia, Syria and Iraq from the battle against the ISIL,” Spokesman of Iraq’s Volunteer Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) Karim al-Nouri told FNA.
Al-Nouri’s remarks came after US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced that Washington will send its special forces to Iraq to fight against the ISIL Takfiri terrorists.
Al-Nouri said that Carter’s statements come at a time when the ISIL is collapsing and it is strange because the Iraqi volunteer forces can terminate the ISIL.
“When the ISIL was very close to Baghdad none of the western countries did anything to prevent the terrorist group; and now that they claim to be willing to take action against the Takfiri terrorist group, they should thus be after some ill-intentions,” he added.
The Iraqi volunteer forces spokesman underlined that the quadrilateral coalition (Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria) will defeat the ISIL without the US help.
On Saturday, Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi volunteer forces warned that they will strike at Ankara’s interests in retaliation for the Turkish army’s illegal border crossing and deployment in Iraq’s Northern Nineveh province.
In reaction to Turkey’s unsolicited dispatch of forces to Iraq, a battalion of Iraq’s volunteer forces threatened that they will target the Turkish government’s interests on Iraq’s soil.
“If the Turkish troops do not withdraw from Iraq, they will receive a crushing response and Turkey’s interests in Iraq will come under Faraq al-Maut’s attacks,” the Faraq al-Maut announced in a video message released on Friday.
It reiterated that the Iraqi popular forces will inflict heavy losses on Turkey’s military men and hardware.
In a similar move on Thursday, Sadr movement also joined other Iraqi popular groups to give crushing response to the Turkish troops in the Northern parts of Iraq.
On December 4, Turkey deployed hundreds of personnel to a camp in Northern Iraq’s Bashiqa region, located near the city of Mosul, currently controlled by the ISIL. Ankara has called it a routine rotation to train Iraqis to retake Mosul.
On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi gave Turkey 24 hours to withdraw its troops from Iraq to avoid the matter being reviewed by the UN Security Council. Turkey has refused to do so.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, for their part, have pledged to attack Turkish forces if Ankara does not pull its troops out of the country by the deadline set out by the Iraqi government.
The Russian warplanes bombed heavily the militant centers in the Central and also Southern parts on the ISIL-held town of Jarablus earlier today, the sources said.
“The ISIL sustained heavy losses in the Russian air attack,” the sources added.
The sources said also that a commander of al-Shamaiya Front named Abu Hassan, who was one of the notorious loyalists to the Turkish President Rajab Tayyip Erdogan’s policies in the region, was killed in clashes with the Syrian army in Aleppo.
Earlier reports said that several terrorists from Jeish al-Fatah group, including a senior field commander, were killed in clashes with the Syrian Army and popular forces in the Southern part of Aleppo province on Friday.
Walid Karim al-Orfi, a senior commander in the Jeish al-Fatah ranks, was killed in fierce clashes with the Syrian soldiers and the National Defense Forces (NDF), the sources said.
“Al-Orfi was originally from the Central Homs province,” they further added.
“The terrorist group’s military hardware was also destroyed in the Syrian government forces’ attack,” the sources went on to say.
The militant groups have suffered heavy causalities as a result of the Syrian forces and the Russian air forces’ continued offensive against the terrorists’ defense lines across the Northern province of Aleppo.
Walid Karim al-Orfi, a senior commander in the Jeish al-Fatah ranks, was killed in fierce clashes with the Syrian soldiers and the National Defense Forces (NDF), the sources said.
“Al-Orfi was originally from the Central Homs province,” they further added.
“The terrorist group’s military hardware was also destroyed in the Syrian government forces’ attack,” the sources went on to say.
The militant groups have suffered heavy causalities as a result of the Syrian forces and the Russian air forces’ continued offensive against the terrorists’ defense lines across the Northern province of Aleppo.
On Wednesday, the Syrian army killed a senior commander of the “Thuwar al-Sham Brigades” terrorist group in a strategic town surrounded by the government forces in Aleppo province.
The Syrian army killed Abdul Rahim al-Hamoud, a senior commander of Thuwar al-Sham Brigades in Khan Touman town.
Abdul Rahim al-Hamoud was a defected lieutenant colonel.
The army said that the Syrian government forces won all battles against the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front North of Lattakia near the border with Turkey.
“Al-Nusra as one of the strongest terrorist group in Syria has withdrawn from its strongholds near the border with Turkey,” the army source added.
The Syrian government forces’ anti-terrorism operations in Lattakia have always been backed up by the Russian warplanes since September 30.
On Thursday, the Russian fighter jets intensified their airstrikes on positions of the Takfiri militants in the Coastal Province of Lattakia, leaving a group of terrorists dead.
A large group of terrorists were killed and injured in Russian airstrikes on militants’ positions in Jabal al-Turkman (Turkman Mountain) and Jabal al-Akrad (Al-Akrad Mountain) in the Northern part of Lattakia.
The Syrian army targeted terrorists’ positions in Marj Khukhe in the Eastern countryside of Lattakia, destroying al-Nusra militants’ command post and ammunition depot.
Reports also said that tens of terrorists were killed and injured.
Earlier, the Russian fighter jets intensified their airstrikes on positions of the Takfiri militants in the province of Lattakia, leaving a group of terrorists dead.
A large group of terrorists were killed and injured in Russian airstrikes on militants’ positions in Jabal al-Turkman (Turkman Mountain) and Jabal al-Akrad (Al-Akrad Mountain) in the Northern part of Lattakia.
“The militants’ columns came under the Syrian government forces’ attacks near Jabal Oteirah and the surroundings of Tal al-Burj,” the sources said.
“Tens of militants’ military vehicles and equipment were damaged in the army’s offensives,” the sources further added.
They went on to say that the militant guards, accompanying the convoys, suffered a heavy death toll too.
The pro-government forces have been pounding the militant groups’ strongholds in the Northern and Northeastern parts of Lattakia near border with the province of Hama and Idlib as well and Turkey in the recent weeks, and have recaptured many villages, towns, mountains and hills.
On Thursday, the Syrian army destroyed a command post of al-Nusra Front terrorists in the province of Lattakia as the terrorists were retreating from most areas of the coastal province.
The Syrian army targeted terrorists’ positions in Marj Khukhe in the Eastern countryside of Lattakia, destroying al-Nusra militants’ command post and ammunition depot.
Reports also said that tens of terrorists were killed and injured.
Also on Thursday, the Russian fighter jets intensified their airstrikes on positions of the Takfiri militants in the province of Lattakia, leaving a group of terrorists dead.
A large group of terrorists were killed and injured in Russian airstrikes on militants’ positions in Jabal al-Turkman (Turkman Mountain) and Jabal al-Akrad (Al-Akrad Mountain) in the Northern part of Lattakia.
The army announced that the Syrian government forces broke through defense lines of the ISIL militants overnight and seized Um Tuwayneh region after hours of clashes with the terrorists.
“The Syrian forces’ operation inflicted heavy losses on the militants, including a heavy death toll,” the army source went on to say.
The pro-government forces have regularly targeted the gathering centers of the ISIL and other militant groups in Hama province in recent weeks.
On Thursday, the Syrian army resumed their anti-terrorism operations in Hama province, killing over 53 terrorists.
A military source said the army killed more than 53 terrorists in Maakar al-Shamali and al-Rahajan village in Hama.
Ten of the militants’ machine gun-equipped vehicles were also destroyed in the military operations.
Also on Thursday, Syrian fighter jets pounded terrorists’ positions in the towns of Kafr Zeita and al-Lataminah and the village of Lahaya in Hama.
The source said that the first phase of these massive operations will push back the terrorists from the strategic Damascus-Homs highway, and will trap the terrorist groups, mainly the ISIL without ammunition, food and medical supply.
“The Syrian and Russian air forces will cover the ground forces operations,” the source further added.
On Thursday, the Syrian fighter jets pounded terrorists’ concentration centers in a key town in Damascus province as the Syrian army engaged in battles with Takfiris in the province.
The Syrian airstrikes hit terrorists’ positions in Darayya town in Damascus countryside.
The Syrian army also engaged in clashes with terrorists in Harasta city in the Eastern Ghouta in Damascus countryside.
There were no immediate reports of possible casualties among the terrorists.
The Syrian airstrikes hit terrorists’ positions in Darayya town in Damascus countryside.
The Syrian army also engaged in clashes with terrorists in Harasta city in the Eastern Ghouta in Damascus countryside.
There were no immediate reports of possible casualties among the terrorists.
On Wednesday, the Syrian army engaged in fierce battles with terrorists in the vicinity of Marj al-Sultan village in the Eastern Ghouta.
Also on Wednesday, the Syrian fighter jets bombed terrorists in the strategic Al-Qalamoun region in Damascus countryside.
The Syrian airstrikes left at least 18 terrorists dead and many more injured in Al-Qalamoun region.
Feilaq al-Sham militants’ military vehicles, loaded with weapons and ammunition, were badly exploded on the Damascus-Aleppo highway as a result of the explosion of several bombs planted along the highway, sources said.
“Large casualties were also reported in the explosions,” the sources further added.
Syrian army, popular forces, Hezbollah fighter, Syrian and Russian fighter jets and even militant-planted roadside mines are targeting and killing the militant groups around the country, including Damascus province.
Earlier today, the Syrian fighter jets pounded terrorists’ concentration centers in a key town in Damascus province as the Syrian army engaged in battles with Takfiris in the province.
The Syrian airstrikes hit terrorists’ positions in Darayya town in Damascus countryside.
The Syrian army also engaged in clashes with terrorists in Harasta city in the Eastern Ghouta in Damascus countryside.
There were no immediate reports of possible casualties among the terrorists.
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