Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Army Regains Control of More Areas in Deir Ezzur

Rasa - The Syrian army continued its advances in Deir Ezzur, and captured more strategic regions in the province.

News ID: 432565

Date: 20 September 2017 - 19:49

RNA - The army units drove the ISIL terrorists out of key areas and their surrounding areas in Deir Ezzur province.

The Syrian troops inflicted heavy losses on the terrorists in fierce clashes over controlling of strategic regions.

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

Deir Ezzur

The Syrian Army soldiers continued to hit ISIL's defense lines on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzur province on Tuesday and managed to capture more positions.

The army units pushed ISIL back from the village of al-Sabhah around Koniko gas filed after imposing control over the villages of Mazloum and Marat earlier on Tuesday.

In the meantime, the army men drove the ISIL out of the town of al-Shamitiyeh and its surrounding regions.

A number of ISIL terrorists, including several commanders, were killed in the operation.

Earlier reports said that the army troops pushed ISIL terrorists back from more strategic hills and regions in the Eastern province of Deir Ezzur and inflicted major losses on the militants.

The army soldiers engaged in fierce clashes with the ISIL and imposed control over several hills and Zahrah al-Mouhasan.

ISIL suffered heavy casualties and its military hardware sustained major damage in the attacks.

Homs

The US Army forces and the Washington-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) destroyed the al-Zakaf base after retreating from the base on Monday, a Lebanese media outlet reported on Tuesday.

According to reports by the English-language AMN, neither the United States nor the FSA plans to use the al-Zakaf Base anymore and in the process of abandoning it have also chosen to destroy it in order to prevent the garrison’s utilization by any other armed party.

The al-Zakaf Base served as a secondary Coalition garrison to the more important al-Tanf Base further West of it. Here the Coalition trained Free Syrian Army mercenaries oversaw their operations in Southwestern Syria.

Websites affiliated to the terrorist groups reported on Monday that the US Army pulled forces back from al-Zakaf in Syria's Badiyeh (desert) region.

Al-Qasiyoun website quoted Mahmoud Abdullah, one of the commanders of Jeish Maqavir al-Thorah, as saying that the US army forces retreated from al-Zakaf base in Eastern Homs towards regions near al-Tanf airbase at Syria's border with Iraq and Jordan.

The source further told al-Qasiyoun that the move came after an agreement with the Russian forces.

Hama

The Syrian Army troops warded off a heavy attack of Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board) on their positions in Northwestern Hama on Tuesday, killing a large number of terrorists.

The army men engaged in heavy fighting with Al-Nusra terrorists along the road connecting the towns of Ma'an and Qasr Abu Samrah and managed to repel their attack.

The Al-Nusra suffered heavy casualties and its military equipment sustained major damage in the failed attack.

The Syrian Army troops pushed ISIL back from one more key region on Monday, inching closer to the liberation of the remaining lands still under terrorists' occupation in Eastern Hama.

The army soldiers continued to hit ISIL terrorists trapped in a region in Eastern Hama and Northeastern Homs and captured the village of Abu Hanaya East of the village of Qalib al-Thor.

In the meantime, the Syrian and Russian fighter jets and the army's artillery targeted ISIL's positions in the village of Abu Hanaya, al-Hardaneh and Abu Habilat in Northern Hama, killing tens of terrorists.

Meantime, news websites affiliated to terrorist groups reported on Tuesday that Al-Nusra Front and some other militant groups have hit the Syrian Army's strongholds in Northern Hama, breaching ceasefire in the de-escalation zone.

The websites reported that Al-Nusra Front, al-Turkistani Islamic Party, Jeish al-Nokhbah, Jeish al-Ezzah, Jeish al-Nasr and Idlib Free Army in joint operations codenamed "Ya Ebadellah Asbetu" stormed the Syrian army positions near the village of Ma'an, 25km North of Hama city.

Reports said earlier on Tuesday that the army men engaged in heavy fighting with Al-Nusra terrorists along the road connecting the towns of Ma'an and Qasr Abu Samrah and managed to repel their attack.

The army destroyed two BMP vehicles of the Al-Nusra in the clashes.

Idlib

The Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Syrian Reconciliation said that some 35 militant groups are ready to join the peace agreement with the Syrian Army troops in Idlib.

The ministry said that 35 units confirmed their readiness to side with the government troops" following talks with the leaders of the formations.

The agreement on the de-escalation zone in Idlib was reached a couple of days ago. The establishment of the Idlib safe zone has been especially crucial due to the fact that around 9,000 terrorists Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board) were attempting to take control over the province, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Previously, safe zones were established in Southern Syria, Eastern Ghouta, and the Homs province.

ICRC Director of Operations Dominik Stillhart told Sputnik the zones helped lower the level of violence in the war-ravaged country.

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