Syria in Last 24 Hours:

ISIL Commanders Fleeing Deir Ezzur

Rasa - Local sources in Eastern Syria reported that a number ISIL field commanders have fled the battlefields after increasing chaos in the terrorist front in Deir Ezzur.

News ID: 430940

Date: 13 July 2017 - 22:26

RNA - Local sources in Eastern Syria reported that a number ISIL field commanders have fled the battlefields after increasing chaos in the terrorist front in Deir Ezzur.

Deir Ezzur

The sources said that after suffering heavy defeats and casualties in battle with the Syrian Army troops in Deir Ezzur in the recent days, a new wave of chaos has covered the terrorist front in the Eastern city.

The sources said that a number of ISIL commanders, including Hamed al-Nouri nom de guerre Abu Hamzeh al-Qar'ani, the deputy commander of ISIL's Hasaba (security-monitory forces) in al-Ashareh and two more commanders from Kazakhstan fled the city.

In the meantime, a number of ISIL terrorists have been killed or wounded in infighting among the group members.

The sources added that a group of residents of the town of Hajin in Eastern Deir Ezzur attacked the Hasaba command center, killing a terrorist and wounding two others.

Also in the past 24 hours, 24 civilians, including women and children, were killed and several more were wounded in the US-led coalition air raids in the provinces of Hasaka and Deir Ezzur.

The coalition's fighter jets bombed the town of Albu Kamal in Eastern Deir Ezzur, killing 14 civilians.

In the meantime, the warplanes targeted the village of al-Zayanat in the Southern countryside of the town of al-Shadadi in Hasaka province, killing 10 civilians, including a woman and town children.

Field sources reported that a number of civilians were also injured, adding the death toll will possible rise due to the critical conditions of some of the injured.

Also on Wednesday, two command centers of ISIL were destroyed in the Syrian Air Force's combat flights over ISIL's positions in Deir Ezzur province, military sources confirmed, adding that the raids inflicted major losses on the terrorists.

The army aircraft struck ISIL's defense lines and movements in al-Huweiqa region, al-Maqaber (cemetery) region, al-Tayem region, in the town of al-Mouhassan, the neighborhood of al-Hosseiniyeh, the village of al-Baqalilyeh, Panorama base, Hatlah neighborhood, and the regions of Mart and Mazloum, destroying a command center known as ISIL's military base in the village of Bou Omar in Eastern Deir Ezzur and another command center in al-Jabileh neighborhood containing arms and ammunition.

A military source said that tens of ISIL terrorists, including two senior commanders, were killed in the attacks.

The source further added that the army soldiers engaged in fierce clashes with ISIL in the Southern and Western directions of Deir Ezzur city and near the airbase, leaving a number of militants dead and wounded.

Aleppo

The Kurdish fighters and the Ankara-backed militant groups exchanged heavy fire and further engaged in a fresh round of clashes in Afrin region in Northern Aleppo, local sources reported.

Turkey-led militants attacked the village of Sheikh Issa, East of the strategic town of Tal Rifat, but Kurdish forces managed to stave off the terrorists' attack.

A well-informed source who requested anonymity said that the clashes inflicted heavy casualties on both warring sides.

The source further added that with regard to the importance of Tal Rifat for Ankara and its affiliated militants, they have attempted several times to take control over Tal Rifat to pave the ground for the occupation of the town of Afrin.

Also reports said on Wednesday that the Turkish Army sent fresh reinforcements and more military equipment to a region that borders the Syrian town of Afrin Northwest of Aleppo province that is under the control of the Kurdish fighters.

The Turkish-language Anadolu news agency quoted security sources as saying that fresh forces and the convoy of military equipment have arrived in Kilis region in the Southern part of the country to provide back up for the Turkish soldiers that deployed at the border with Syria.

The news agency said that the Turkish army's equipment, includes six military vehicles  that have transferred to Kilis under severe security measures.

The agency added that the newly-arrived forces are to support the Turkish units in Musa Bili border region located opposite to Afrin region in Northern Syria.

Homs

Over 600 family members of the gunmen that had not endorsed peace with the Syrian Army and left Homs for militant-held regions in Northern Aleppo returned to the Northwestern outskirts of Homs due to violent behavior of terrorists and awful living conditions.

630 family members of the gunmen that refused to join peace with the army in al-Wa'ar district and preferred to be relocated to the border town of Jarabulus that is under the Ankara-backed militants demanded coming back to al-Wa'er again due to the discrimination and violent behavior of the militants in the border town.

150 families of the gunmen left Jarabulus for al-Wa'er on 14 buses after concluding an agreement with the Syrian government.

In the meantime, Homs Governor General Talal al-Barazi said that 1,300 family members of the gunmen intend to return al-Wa'er again, adding that the group will be the fifth group of family members of gunmen that will return to al-Wa'er.

Also in the past 24 hours, the Syrian Army troops and Air Force targeted ISIL's positions in Eastern Homs, killing and wounding a number of terrorists and destroying their military hardware in large scale.

The army aircraft carried out repeated combat flights over ISIL's strongholds in Um Tweineh East of Jubb al-Jarrah, destroying a depot of arms and ammunition, a bomb-laden vehicle and a tank and its munition, and killing over 21 terrorists.

In the meantime, the army soldiers that captured al-Heil gas and oil fields on Monday and Tuesday continued their operation towards the town of al-Sukhnah, the last bastion of ISIL in Eastern Homs.

Reports said, meantime, that the army has dispatched several military convoys to Palmyra city to reinvigorate its forces for the final phase of the al-Sukhnah liberation operation.

Al-Sukhnah is the last bastion of ISIL fighters in Homs and the last strategic barrier in front of the pro-government forces to lift the siege of Deir Ezzur.

Also on Wednesday, three military helicopters of the US-led coalition carried out another heliborne operation in Eastern Homs, carrying a number of ISIL terrorists on board, local sources reported.

The Arabic-language al-Hadath news quoted the sources as saying that a group of ISIL terrorists were transferred by a van from the town of Ayyash in Eastern Deir Ezzur to a ISIL-held desert region in the Eastern direction of the town of al-Sukhnah in Eastern Homs, where three helicopters of the US-led coalition were hovering over the region.

One of the helicopters landed but the other two continued to fly over the region.

The sources told al-Hadath that the three helicopters flew towards North and entered Raqqa airspace, adding that there is no information about their exact destination.

The sources further said that the ISIL militants taken away by the American choppers could have been one of the spying groups used by Washington via Jeish Maqavir al-Thowrah militant group to materialize its objectives in the region.

Hama

The Syrian Army troops along with the Russian and Syrian warplanes targeted ISIL's positions and movements in the Eastern and Central parts of Hama province, inflicting major losses on the terrorists.

The army's artillery and missile units opened heavy fire at ISIL's positions in Sheikh Hilal in Eastern Hama, killing and wounding a large number of militants.

In the meantime, the army soldiers engaged in heavy fighting with terrorists in a region near the oil pipelines East of the town of al-Salamiyah, killing a large number of them and damaging their equipment.

Also, the Russian and Syrian fighter jets pounded ISIL's positions East of al-Salamiyah.

The missile units further targeted ISIL's movements in al-Salamiyah region and destroyed one of their vehicles, killing the entire terrorists on board.

Also on Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that a Russian military adviser has been killed in an attack staged by militants and targeting the Syrian military in Hama province.

The ministry said Nikolay Afanasov was serving in Syria as a member of the Russian military advisers’ mission and was tasked with training Syrian ground forces, RT reported.

It is not the first time that a Russian officer has been killed in a terrorist attack in the Syrian conflict.

Damascus

The Syrian Army forces, backed up by the country's Air Force, continued to hit the defense lines of Faylaq al-Rahman and Al-Nusra Front (also known as Fatah al-Sham Front or the Levant Liberation Board) in Eastern Ghouta and managed to impose control over another key position.

The army men engaged in fierce clashes with Faylaq al-Rahman and Al-Nusra Front in the meat-packing company in Ein Terma-Jobar and Zmelka triangle and pushed the terrorists back from the company.

In the meantime, the army aircraft pounded terrorists' positions in the triangle several times.

A military source reported that a large number of terrorists were killed or wounded in the army operation in the meat-packing company.

Lattakia

The Syrian Army's artillery units shelled heavily terrorists' positions in Lattakia province and killed several militants after the latter violated the ceasefire and pounded the army positions.

The terrorist groups targeted the army positions in Rabi'eh and Nawareh in Northeastern Lattakia, breaching the de-escalation agreement.

Later, the army men retaliated and shelled terrorists' positions and movements in Ein Issa and Ein Halwa regions, killing 10 terrorists and destroying their military hardware.

A bulldozer was also targeted in the army fire.

The artillery units also targeted a vehicle carrying terrorists near Mount Abu Ali in Northeastern Lattakia, killing at least eight terrorists.

Sweida

The Syrian Army troops continued to hit the terrorist groups' defense lines in Northeastern Sweida and managed to capture five strategic hills, expanding the pro-government forces' control over vast regions in Syria's Badiyeh (desert).

The army soldiers managed to drive terrorists out of six villages and five strategic hills in Northeastern Sweida and restored security to the entire liberated territories.

A field commander, meantime, reported that with the recent advances against the terrorists, specially after imposing control over Tal al-Asfar and its surrounding hills, the army men restored security to all the military areas and civil facilities in the region, mainly to the military airport.

The commander further said that the army forces pushed terrorists back from vast regions in a short period and chased them up to the depth of Badiyeh, adding that the army has increased its control over vast areas.

847/940