Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Army Repels ISIL's Attacks on Gov't Positions in Homs Province

Rasa - The Syrian army soldiers repelled terrorists' attack on their positions in Homs province after hours of clashes, inflicting major losses on them.

News ID: 431957

Date: 26 August 2017 - 20:05

RNA - The ISIL terrorists' attacks to capture the government forces' positions in the Southern parts of Homs province were fended off by the strong defense of the Syrian military men.

Meantime, the Syrian army and popular forces continued their military advances in other parts of Syria, including Damascus and Hama, over the past 24 hours.

Tens of terrorists were killed and dozens more were injured during the Syrian army's operations in other provinces across Syria.

Homs

The Syrian Army troops fended off massive offensive of the ISIL in Southern Homs near the border with Iraq after fierce clashes with terrorists, inflicting major losses on the terrorists.

The ISIL militants launched a massive offensive along the Iraqi border, targeting the Syrian Army’s primary defense lines in the desert regions of the Homs province that ended in complete disaster as the soldiers heavily repelled the attack.

ISIL began the offensive by attacking the army posts near the border, resulting in a series of fierce clashes that lasted for several hours.

The army men, backed up by the popular forces, managed to beat back the terrorists, killing and wounding scores of militants across the vast desert terrain.

The Syrian pro-government forces inflicted heavy damage on the terrorists' military hardware, destroying a large number of armored vehicles used in the attack.

The army and their allies have reinforced the area in preparation for another large scale attack by the terrorists.

Damascus

The Syrian Army unleashed another vicious assault in Eastern Ghouta on Friday, firing a multitude of missiles towards the defenses of Faylaq al-Rahman and Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board) terrorist groups.

The missile units of the army’s 42nd Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division repeatedly struck the terrorists' positions, inflicting heavy damage on the latter’s defense lines in Jobar and Ein Terma region.

The 42nd Brigade fired more than 20 surface-to-surface missiles towards Jobar and Ein Terma, scoring several direct hits on the terrorists.

The Syrian Army has made it clear to Faylaq al-Rahman that they don't adhere to any ceasefire that includes the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board) militant group and as long as they remain entrenched with this radical faction, the government will attack the area.

Hama

The Syrian Army soldiers stormed ISIL's defense lines South of the town of Sheikh Hilal and imposed control over two small but strategic towns in Eastern Hama on Friday.

The Army men engaged in tough battle with ISIL in Eastern Hama and captured the towns of Salibeh and al-Makiman al-Shamali and Tal (hill) al-Albawi, killing and wounding a number of terrorists.

Raqqa

The Syrian Army troops launched a massive offensive in the Southern part of Raqqa province on Friday morning to recapture the villages the terrorist group captured yesterday.

The army, led by the Nabhan Group of the Tiger Forces, attacked the ISIL’s positions, killing scores of terrorists to avenge their losses on Thursday, the English-language AMN reported.

The army soldiers have now recovered 80 percent of the territory they lost to the ISIL, including the village of Abu Ghannam in the Southern part of Raqqa province.

Deir Ezzur

The Syrian Army troops, backed up by Russian forces, have focused on defeating the ISIL terrorist group in the Eastern city of Deir Ezzur, the Russian General Staff said Friday.

Deir Ezzur remains the last stronghold of ISIL in Syria with militants accumulating their forces there, Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, the chief of the Russian General Staff's Main Operational Directorate, said during a roundtable discussion at the ARMY-2017 forum, Sputnik reported.

"The lifting of siege of this city will allow us to completely defeat the most combat-effective formations of the ISIL terror group in Syria," Rudskoy said.

Rudskoy added that the terrorists from the city of Raqqa and Iraq’s Mosul have been transferred to Deir Ezzur.

The Syrian army and popular forces, supported by the Russian Air Force, have significantly advanced toward Deir Ezzur from three directions, the military official pointed out. Also, a major group of ISIL terrorists has been surrounded in the town of Aqayrabat.

Syria-Lebanon Border

The Syrian Army troops and the Lebanese Hezbollah fighters stormed ISIL's defense lines in Western Qalamoun region and took control over several heights on Friday.

The Syrian pro-government forces captured al-Fakhriyeh heights, Wadi al-Hamam heights and areas around the Zohour al-Khashen and Sarj al-Qavami'a heights in the Western Qalamoun.

Also, the army men and Hezbollah imposed control over the regions of Sahal Mar Tiseh, Khirbet Mar Tiseh and Sahal al-Fakhouriyeh West of al-Brij heights at Syria-Lebanon common borders.

The army soldiers and the resistance fighters also pushed ISIL back from Qarna Tam al-Maal height South of Qalamoun that overlooks al-Shahout passageway.

The government forces also captured Zahra al-Ariz heights and Tal (hill) Vatid Southeast of French checkpoint in the region.

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