Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Army Inflicts Heavy Losses on Terrorists in Damascus Province

Rasa - The Syrian army hit hard the terrorists' military positions and hardware in the Western part of Damascus province.

News ID: 435228

Date: 10 December 2017 - 18:12

RNA - The terrorists in Damascus province sustained heavy losses in tough battle with the Syrian army.

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

Damascus

The Syrian Army troops on Saturday stormed again the strongholds of the Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board) in Western Ghouta, targeting Tal (hill) al-Maqtoul near the Golan Heights.

The army men attacked the Northern part of Tal al-Maqtoul near the town of al-Mughur al-Mir, where they reportedly broke through the Al-Nusra's first line of defense.

However, despite some reports on capturing the hilltop, the Syrian Army still does not have control over Tal al-Maqtoul, as clashes are still raging at this important site located near the occupied Golan Heights.

Field sources said earlier that the army troops stormed the strongholds of the Al-Nusra Front on the strategic hilltop of Tal al-Maqtoul near the Golan Heights in Western Damascus.

The sources said that the army men, led by their elite 42nd Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division, attacked Al-Nusra positions in the Northern part of Tal al-Maqtoul in a fierce exchange of fire.

They added that the army men are currently trying to fight their way up the hilltop, but the terrorists are making it very difficult to break through their lines as they resist attacks.

Tal al-Maqtoul is the last hilltop before the town of al-Mughur al-Mir, if captured they will have fire control over al-Mughur al-Mir region near the occupied Golan Heights.

Hama

A fresh wave of differences and infighting has erupted among militants of the Al-Nusra Front in Northern Hama after the terrorist group lost a number of regions to its ISIL rivals in the province, dissident-affiliated websites disclosed on Saturday.

The websites said that a group of Al-Nusra militants engaged in tough battle with the other terrorists of Al-Nusra under the command of Emir of Hama Abu Suleiman al-Homsi in the town of Ibleen in Jabal al-Zawiyeh region in Southern Idlib and Northwestern Hama.

The websites further said that Abu Suleiman is a former member of Jund al-Aqsa that was an ally of the ISIL, adding that the recent advances of the ISIL against the Al-Nusra in Northeastern Hama occurred following al-Homsi's plot and cooperation with the ISIL.

Idlib

Unknown raiders gunned down Abu Abdu Zaheriyah, one of the senior commanders of Ahrar al-Sham, in Idlib province, militant-affiliated sources disclosed on Saturday.

The sources said that Abu Abdu Zaheriyah, a field commander of Ahrar al-Sham terrorist group, and two of his aides were assassinated by unidentified assailants in the small town of al-Tah in the Northwestern province of Idlib.

Websites close to the terrorists disclosed earlier that unidentified gunmen killed a senior commander of the Al-Nusra Front terrorist group in the city of Idlib.

The vehicle of the Abu Zabah Araqi, a notorious commander of the Al-Nusra Front, came under attack by unknown assailants near the central prison in Idlib and he was shot dead, the media sources close to the terrorists said.

They also reported intensified terrorist attacks on Al-Nusra commanders, and said that the vehicle of the commander of Al-Nusra Front's Islamic Police, Khaled Anis al-Mousa, was exploded in Basqala village in Southern Idlib and his fate is still unknown.

Deir Ezzur

Abu al-Majd al-Rafi'ei, one of the senior field commanders of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), along with his fighters surrendered to the Syrian Army troops in Western Deir Ezzur, dissident-affiliated websites reported on Saturday.

The websites said that Abu al-Majd al-Rafi'ei and his forces laid down arms and turned in to the army men in the Western countryside of Deir Ezzur.

The websites added that al-Rafi'ei was previously one of the field commanders of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Northern Syria.

Al-Rafi'ei defected the FSA a year ago and joined the SDF, the websites added.

847/940