Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Army Makes New Gains in Aleppo Countryside

Rasa - The Syrian army continued its mop-up operations in Eastern Aleppo by purging terrorists from key villages and regions.

News ID: 429760

Date: 20 May 2017 - 23:26

RNA - The army units also took back the villages of al-Qawas and al-Hamra and paved their way towards Deir Hafer region in the Eastern part of Aleppo.

The army then focused on advancing towards other regions 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 to push ISIL back from vast territories in Eastern Aleppo, and captured two more strategic villages in the region.

The army soldiers engaged in tough battle with ISIL in Eastern Aleppo and managed to drive them out of the villages of al-Qawas and al-Hamra.

Field sources reported that the army men are still on the march in the area.

Earlier reports said that the army troops continued their anti-terrorism operation in Eastern Aleppo, kicking off a cleansing operation in over 10 newly-liberated towns and villages to restore sustainable security to the region and push towards last main ISIL stronghold in the province.

The army advanced towards the ISIL's stronghold in the town of Maskana, liberating several towns and villages in the Eastern territories of the Aleppo province, paving the way for their first advance into the Northern part of the Maskana Plain.

According to reports, the pro-government forces halted their military operations in order to secure the territory they captured from the Takfiri terrorists.

A military source said that the army units are about to kick off a fresh round of operations in coming days to deploy on the suburbs of the town of Maskana.

Damascus

Two notorious commanders of Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board) have been killed in fierce clashes with rival terrorists from the Jeish al-Islam group in Eastern Ghouta.

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at and Faylaq al-Rahman engaged in fierce clashes with Jeish al-Islam in Hawsh al-Asha'ari farmland in Eastern Ghouta.

The clashes have inflicted a number of casualties on both sides, outlets close to the militant groups said on Friday.

Abu Salem and Abu Wasim al-Kanani, two field commanders of Tahrir al-Sham, were killed in the clashes.

Media sources close to Jeish al-Islam also reported that two field commanders of Tahrir al-Sham were killed by snipers in Eastern Ghouta.

Raqqa

The predominately Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continued the fourth phase of the anti-ISIL Euphrates Rage Operation in Raqqa and managed to capture three more villages, closing off the last supply line of the terrorists to the ISIL-held city of Raqqa in Northeastern Syria.

The SDF engaged in fierce clashes with the ISIL East of Raqqa city and managed to seize control over the villages of Hamra Qanam, Hamra Ablu Yatiyeh and Madar.

Field sources confirmed that the last supply line of ISIL terrorists to Raqqa city was cut off after the SDF took control over the village of Hamra Qanam.

The ISIL lost a number of forces in the SDF advances.

Homs

The Syrian Army troops continued their advances against ISIL and drove them out of more positions South of the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur), inflicting major casualties on the terrorists.

The army units engaged in fierce clashes with the ISIL South of Palmyra towards al-Sawaneh region and managed to recapture more lands South of Mount al-Abtar.

Early battlefield reports show that the ISIL lost a number of fighters in the attack.

Arab media outlets reported earlier on Friday that the Syrian Army troops, backed up by the Special Forces, managed to drive ISIL out of more territories in Syrian Badiyeh (desert), inflicting major losses on the terrorists.

Hama

A source in Salamiyah city's National Hospital said that 51 people were killed and 100 more were wounded in ISIL's attack in a village in Hama.

"Fifty-one dead and over 100 wounded, these are the final numbers regarding the victims of the ISIL's attack on Aqareb al-Safi village," the source told Sputnik.

Aqareb al-Safi is situated in a strategically important geographical position due to its location near the M5 North-South motorway linking Aleppo to other Syrian provinces.

The Syrian army along with it popular allies have been fighting against numerous terrorist groups, including the ISIL, within a civil war that has lasted for more than six years.

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