Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Syrian Army Nearing Last Main Bastion of ISIL in Eastern Homs

Rasa - The Syrian Army troops continued the march on ISIL territories in Eastern Homs and deployed in new positions only 10km away from the town of al-Sukhnah, the last main stronghold of the terrorist group before Deir Ezzur.

News ID: 430900

Date: 10 July 2017 - 22:07

RNA - After imposing control over the strategic region of Jubab Hamd in Eastern Homs, the army men continued to hit ISIL's defense lines and captured the key al-Alaam region East of the village of Mosheirefeh al-Qarbiyeh that overlooks ISIL's positions in Um al-Saharij and al-Mosheirefeh al-Janoubi in al-Shoumeriyeh mountain.

Following the recent advances of the army soldiers in Eastern Homs, the pro-government forces are now only 10km away from al-Sukhnah that is the last main stronghold of ISIL in Eastern Homs and the gate to Deir Ezzur province.

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

Homs

In the meantime, the ISIL terrorist group lost tens of fighters in clashes with the Syrian Army troops in Eastern Homs.

The army men repelled ISIL's offensive on their positions in the village of Maksar al-Hasan, killing and wounding over 40 of them.

The remaining pockets of ISIL terrorists left behind their equipment and fled toward the village of Unq al-Hawa.

Also, the army soldiers launched the operation from their positions in Tafheh and Manoukh hills North of Power plant 4 and managed to impose control over several overlooking heights North of Homs-Palmyra road.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Air Force pounded ISIL's movements and positions in Humeimeh and East of the town of Arak, killing a number of militants and destroying their equipment.

Damascus

The army troops intensified attacks on the positions and gatherings of the terrorists in Ein Terma region and managed to seize control over a number of buildings.

The army men continued to hit the defense lines of the Al-Nusra Front (also known as Fatah al-Sham Front or the Levant Liberation Board) in the Ein Terma-Jobar triangle, while the army's artillery units pounded the same region.

The Al-Nusra suffered heavy casualties and its military hardware sustained major damage in the army attacks.

The army soldier, then, managed to capture more buildings, mainly near the Grand Mosque of Ahl al-Sefeh in Ein Terma.

Local sources in Eastern Ghouta said that Jeish al-Islam and Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board) engaged in a fresh round of clashes that left nearly 30 militants dead or wounded.

The sources said that 20 fighters of Jeish al-Islam and 9 members of Tahrir al-Sham were killed or wounded in fresh clashes between rival terrorists in several fronts in the town of al-Ash'ari.

The sources added that Tahrir al-Sham managed to impose control over five farms from the direction of Beit Sawa.

Idlib

Well-informed sources in Northwestern Syria reported that some of the family members of the gunmen that had been relocated to militant-held regions in Idlib returned to Damascus province after they were treated violently by local militants.

The sources said that 20 family members of the gunmen that had previously refused to endorse peace with the Syrian Army in the town of al-Tal in Damascus province and had been relocated along with their families to Idlib province returned to al-Tal again.

The sources said that the oppressive and discriminatory attitude showed by the local militants towards the newcomers had been the root cause of the return of the relocated gunmen's family members to al-Tal.

Also, news websites affiliated to the Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board or the al-Nusra Front) reported heightened public discontent among the people residing in Idlib.

According to Aba news website, the security situation in Idlib was tense and people were living in chaos and horror in the province.

"The checkpoints where the cars are inspected are disordered and chaotic and the terrorist groups have lost their unity, leading to increased feeling of insecurity among people," it added.

"The people in Idlib are highly angry at the awful security situation in the city and they are almost every day witnessing blasts; that's why they call Idlib city as a mine field," the website reported.

Reports from Northwestern Syria said an unspecified number of terrorists were killed in a huge blast at an Ahrar al-Sham base in Northern Idlib.

Local news websites affiliated to the terrorist groups reported that a number of terrorists of Ahrar al-Sham were killed or wounded in an explosion at one of the group's centers in the town of Bannish North of Idlib.

In the meantime, al-Qasiyoun news website reported that the blast was caused by an explosion at an Ahrar Al-Sham arms and ammunition depot in Bannish.

The blast came as a new wave of clashes started among rival militant groups in Idlib. Reports said on Saturday that commanders of Ahrar al-Sham and Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at terrorist groups became the target of increasing attacks by rival militant groups.

Meantime, opposition activists claimed that the blast in Bannish was arranged by rival militant groups, but declined to provide further details.

Some other accused Tahrir Al-Sham Hay'at of carrying out the attack. However, the Al-Qaeda linked group did not officially take responsibility for the blast.

Hama

The army troops and Air Force continued to hit ISIL's positions and movements in Southwestern and Eastern Hama, killing or wounding a number of terrorists and destroying a major part of their military hardware.

The army soldiers engaged in clashes with a group of ISIL terrorists that tried to prevail over their positions in the village of Hirbnafsa in Southwestern Hama and managed to repel their attack after killing a large number of terrorists.

The remaining pockets of the ISIL terrorists retreated from the battlefield after suffering heavy defeat in Hirbnafsa.

Meantime, air force strikers launched massive raids on ISIL's concentration centers and movements that left tens of ISIL fighters dead or wounded and their equipment destroyed.

A field source, meanwhile, said that one of the commanders of ISIL, nom de guerre Abu Islam al-Jesri, was killed along with his forces in the army attacks Southeast of the town of Aqarib al-Safi in Eastern Hama.

Quneitra

The army captured two key regions after a Sunday offensive on Al-Nusra Front in the Southern province of Quneitra.

The army men and the National Defense Forces raided the Al-Nusra positions and managed to drive the terrorists out of the strategic region of Red Villa near the town of al-Samdaniyeh al-Qabri.

Field sources said Red Villa region was of crucial importance as the army men could monitor and thwart any preemptive assault by the terrorists. The region links supply lines and its capture can also speed up the army's movements.

The sources said the army also pushed terrorists back from al-Mokhtar Villa near the town of al-Samdaniyeh al-Sharqi after hours of non-stop clashes.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry underscored on Sunday that Damascus categorically condemned Israel's announcement about holding elections of the so-called “local councils” on October 2018 in the villages of the occupied Syrian Golan.

In letters to the UN Secretary General and the Head of the Security Council, the Ministry said that the Israeli entity recently issued new resolutions related to holding elections of the so-called local councils in the villages of the occupied Syrian Golan according to Israeli law, stressing the Golan was an integral part of the Syrian territory and that it would return to the motherland sooner or later.

The Ministry pointed out that these Israeli actions come as no surprise because Israel has been investing in the crisis in Syria through its support to the terrorist groups which was clear since the beginning of the events in Syria.

The letters noted that the Syrian citizens of the occupied Golan have rejected in the national document which they had issued on 25/3/1981 any decision issued by the Israeli entity to annex the Golan as well as their rejection of all Israeli decisions aimed at depriving them of their Syrian identity.

The Ministry indicated that the fifth paragraph of the aforementioned document provided that they do not recognize any group of the so-called local councils and that the heads and the members of these councils do not represent them, and that they made an irrevocable decision to reject the imposition of the Israeli identity on them.

The letters went on to say that Israel, which refused to comply with International legitimacy over the past years and rebelled against its decisions to end the occupation of the Syrian Golan, has repeated this rebellion by issuing this new decision.

The Ministry pointed out that the Security Council affirmed in its resolution no. 497 that the Israeli decision to impose its law, authority, and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan is null , void, and without international legal power, adding that the Security Council demanded that Israel annul its decision immediately and declared that all provisions of the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in the Time of War are still in effect in the Syrian territory occupied by Israel since June 1967.

The letters asserted that the new Israeli decisions constitute another flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international humanitarian law, and the Geneva Convention.

The Ministry went on to say that Syria calls upon the UN Secretary General and the Security Council to condemn these new provocative Israeli measures that blatantly violate the Security Council resolution 497, demanding that the Council force Israel to release Syrian and Palestinian captives from Israeli jails, including Sedqi al-Maqet, who has spent more than 30 years in Israeli jails.

Deir Ezzur

Reports from Eastern Syria said on Sunday that the ISIL terrorist groups was facing increasing problem with its members' level of anxiety over their fate after the Syrian army's rapid advances in the depth of Badiyeh (desert) in Eastern Homs towards Deir Ezzur.

The sources said that after the rapid advances made by the army against ISIL in Badiyeh recently, the ISIL front in Deir Ezzur seems perplexed and much anxious.

The sources said the terrorist group forced residents to build new bunkers and checkpoints in a number of neighborhoods and streets of the towns of al-Mayadeen and Sabikhan in Eastern Deir Ezzur.

The sources also added that resident of al-Katf region near the town of Albu Kamal engaged in heavy fighting with ISIL and killed three of them and set fire at one of their vehicles.

Other sources reported that the army's artillery units launched heavy shelling attack on ISIL's positions near Deir Ezzur's military airport, al-Huweiqa passageway, Wadi al-Thardah and the villages of al-Baqaliyeh.

The Syrian Air Force, meantime, bombed ISIL's positions in Panorama region, West of Regiment 137 base, water resources, al-Kanamat passageway and al-Baqaliyeh village, inflicting major losses of the terrorists.

Hama

The Syrian army forces warded off an offensive by the al-Nusra Front (also known as Fatah al-Sham Front or the Levant Liberation Board) terrorists against the al-Zareh power plant in the Southern parts of Hama province.

The attack which started from the village of Hirbnafsa was repulsed by the Syrian soldiers after killing and wounding a number of militants.

Raqqa

The Syrian Army troops, backed up by the country's Air Force, continued to hit ISIL's defense lines in Western Raqqa and inched closer to the al-Tabaqa airbase that is under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a military source said Sunday.

The source said that the army men engaged in a fresh round of clashes with the ISIL and managed to approach the SDF-held airbase of al-Tabaqa.

In the meantime, the army aircraft carried out repeated raids over ISIL's positions and movements in the Eastern and Southern directions of al-Fahdi power plant, South of the village of Beir Abu Kobra, in the village of Khirbet al-Haloul and North of the village of al-Zamleh, destroying several positions and hideouts of ISIL Southwest of Beir Abu Kobra, al-Fahdi power plant and the village of al-Zamleh, killing a number of terrorists.

The source further said that the army's recent advances in the Southern and Eastern parts of the war-hit country foiled significantly US plots in Syria.

847/940