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 Southwestern Damascus.

News ID: 435404

Date: 18 December 2017 - 17:51

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 continued to advance towards the last stronghold of Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board) in Southwestern Damascus on Sunday and managed to take control over two strategic hills.

The army soldiers, backed up by the heavy fire of artillery and missile units, engaged in non-stop battle with Al-Nusra and drove them out of the hills of Bashir Najjar and al-Zahar al-Aswad East of the small town on Mughur al-Mira, known as the main stronghold of the terrorist group in Southwestern Damascus.

A large number of terrorists were killed or wounded and their military hardware was destroyed in the attack.

The army now has tightened noose on Al-Nusra in Mughur al-Mir from the three Northern, Eastern and Southern directions of the small terrorist-held town.

Earlier reports said that the army soldiers further advanced against the Al-Nusra from Tal al-Ziyat hill towards al-Zahar al-Aswad hill in Southwestern Damascus and managed to capture Tal (hill) al-Mantar in al-Zahar al-Aswad near the small town of Mughur al-Mir.

The army men inflicted major losses on Al-Nusra near Mughur al-Mir, specially in al-Zahar al-Aswad, a field source said, adding that the army units intensified attacks on Al-Nusra near Sheikh Abdullah Maqam region near Beit Jinn Farm, causing the terrorists to call on their comrades to rush to the region to help them slow down the army advances.

Idlib

The Syrian Army forces drove the Al-Nusra Front out of a key height in Northeastern Hama on Sunday in their push towards Southeastern Idlib to free a key terrorist-held military airport.

The army forces, backed up by artillery and missile units, stormed the strongholds of the Al-Nusra and captured Tal (hill) al-Maqta'a after they imposed control over al-Zahra Farms in the region, paving the ground for the further advances towards Abu al-Dhohour airbase in Southeastern Idlib.

The army men also engaged in a tough battle with terrorists near the village of al-Shakousiyeh in Northeastern Hama.

Also, the Syrian Air Force carried out a number of combat flights over terrorists' centers and movements in the villages and regions of Qasr Bin Wardan, al-Rahjan and al-Shakousiyeh in Hama and regions near the town of Abu Dali in Southern Idlib, killing a number of militants and destroying their positions.

Dissident-affiliated websites reported earlier on Sunday that a long military column of Ahrar al-Sham terrorists has arrived in Northeastern Hama to assist their comrades to slow down the Syrian Army troops' rapid advances towards Idlib province.

The news websites said that Ahrar al-Sham has joined other terrorist groups in Northeastern Hama to prevent the army from advancing towards Idlib province.

The websites went on to say that a long convoy of Ahrar forces arrived in the battlefield in Syriatel hill and joined terrorist front.

Field sources, meantime, reported that a number of Ahrar's fighters have been sent to al-Mosheirefeh region in Southern Idlib.

Fierce clashes are currently underway between the Al-Nusra and the army men in Hama.

Aleppo

Turkey has set up the third military passageway at the border with Syria, increasing the possibility of imminent attack on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Aleppo province, a Kurdish media outlet reported on Sunday.

Hawar news reported that the Turkish Army entered the small town of Baliya in Afrin Canton and opened a corridor for Ankara troops to possibly invade this rural region in Northern Syria.

It went on to say that the army opened the new passageway to ease traffic of its military vehicles and equipment to deploy them in the border region near farms in Baliya.

The Turkish army set up a passageway near the village of Mulla Khalil in Jandarisy region last year.

The Turkish army also established another passageway near the village of Shilta'ati in Shera region earlier this year.

The Turkish forces set up five monitoring towers to watch the region, targeting anybody who tries to approach the borders.

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