Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Army Regains Control of More Areas, Villages in Aleppo Province

Rasa - The Syrian army continued its advances in Aleppo province in Northern Syria, and took back control of two strategic villages and vast areas in the province.

News ID: 427844

Date: 04 March 2017 - 19:34

RNA - The army units drove the ISIL terrorists out of key areas and their surrounding areas in Eastern Aleppo.

The Syrian troops killed tens of terrorists and injured dozens more in fierce clashes over controlling of strategic regions. They also destroyed military equipment of the terrorists.

The Syrian army also continued its advances in other key provinces across Syria.

Aleppo

The Syrian Army troops continued their advances against ISIL terrorists in Eastern Aleppo and managed to take control of two more villages and vast areas.

The Syrian pro-government forces continued to push ISIL terrorists out of more positions and captured vast areas near the newly-liberated town of Za'araya and the towns of al-Roufiyeh and al-Rowzeh along the road to Um Al-Amd.

Army reports said ISIL suffered heavy casualties and its military equipment sustained major damage in the attacks.

In the meantime, the Syrian Army's Joint Staff announced that government troops have deployed in the regions under the control of the Manbij Military Council Southwest of the town of Manbij.

Reports said earlier on Friday that the army men engaged in fierce clashes with ISIL in Eastern Aleppo and imposed full control over the villages and towns of Zaaraya, Am Talatel, Um Al-Amad, Barleen, Abu Tawil, Rahmaniyah, Umm Miyal, and As Safre.

The newly-liberated villages have not been under government control since 2012.

The army soldiers also seized the hill ‘Tal Zaaraya’, some 11km Northeast of Deir Hafer, the last ISIL-held town in Aleppo province.

Meanwhile, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) officially handed over the adjacent village of Abu Al-Khaf after endorsing a Russian-brokered deal that will allow the Syrian troops to seize control of a large stretch of Kurdish-held territory West of Manbij.

The government troops are no more than 20 kilometers away from the Euphrates River.

Once deployed at the River, the Syrian pro-government forces would be capable of launching an offensive towards Raqqa, the ISIL's capital.

Homs

A Syrian security official said on Friday that the army's engineering units are cleaning landmines and explosives planted by the ISIL terrorists in the historic city of Palmyra.

The official said that the demining process will be long and difficult due to the large number of mines planted by the ISIL across Palmyra.

Damascus and Kremlin both declared on Thursday that the Syrian Army, backed by the Russian Air Force, has taken back the key city of Palmyra from the ISIL terrorist group.

Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated on Thursday that Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu reported to the commander-in-chief, President Vladimir Putin, that the historic city of Palmyra in Homs province was liberated.

Hours after Moscow declared the liberation of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Homs province, the General Command of the Syrian Army also confirmed the report.

Damascus

The Syrian Army troops pounded a command post of Al-Nusra Front (recently renamed to Fatah al-Sham Front) in Eastern Ghouta in an artillery attack, destroying the post and killing, at least, 8 terrorists.

A main command post of Al-Nusra Front in Harasta region was destroyed in the artillery attack.

Reports said, at least, 8 terrorists were killed in the attack.

The army soldiers also established control over terrorists' tunnel used for transportation of militants from Harasta to residential areas of Damascus.

Harasta is located 10 kilometers (over 6 miles) from Damascus and is one of the few battlegrounds near the Syrian capital.

Regaining control over the settlement will give the Syrian army an opportunity to ensure safe transport connection between Damascus and the city of Homs.

Idlib

The newly-formed Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board) engaged in fierce clashes with other rival groups in Southern Idlib again.

Clashes erupted between the terrorist groups of Ahrar Al-Sham and Tahrir Al-Sham Hay'at in Saraqib after one of Ahrar Al-Sham regiments announced that defection to Tahrir Al-Sham Hay'at.

The faction that defected played a crucial role in Ahrar al-Sham as they manufactured weapons.

Another group of Ahrar Al-Sham tried to prevent this regiment from taking any weapons or ammunition with them. This led to clashes between the two rival factions, as well as other Tahrir Al-Sham's fighters in the area.

Several injuries were inflicted on both sides and each side arrested some of the opposing group members.

Dara'a

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) terrorists ambushed a group of rival ISIL terrorists in Northwestern Dara'a, killing a number of terrorists and wounding several more.

The FSA carried out an ambush operation against a group of ISIL terrorists along a road connecting Nawa town to the small town of al-Mazirib, killing a number of ISIl fighters and wounding several more.

Deir Ezzur

The Syrian fighter jets launched massive airstrikes against ISIL's moves and convoys near Deir Ezzur city, inflicting heavy damage and casualties on the terrorists.

The Syrian air force attacked ISIL positions and supply routes in the two districts of concrete brick factories near Liwa al-Tamin and al-Muhandeseen in the surrounding areas of Jabal al-Thardah and Hill 23 in al-Maqaber (Cemetery) region, killing and wounding tens of ISIL terrorists and destroying several military vehicles.

Meantime, the Syrian fighter jets targeted and blew up the ISIL military convoys moving from Raqqa to Deir Ezzur as well as a convoy in Hatlah village in the Eastern countryside of Deir Ezzur city, destroying several military vehicles and killing dozens of militants.

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