Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Army Cuts off Terrorists' Main Supply Line in Southwestern Damascus

Rasa - The Syrian army units managed to cut off the main supply road to the terrorists' main bastion in Southwestern Damascus, killing scores of militants and injuring many more in heavy clashes.

News ID: 435419

Date: 19 December 2017 - 22:27

RNA - Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board) sustained heavy losses and casualties in fierce clashes with the government forces in Southwestern Damascus.

The army also hit hard the military positions of the terrorists in other key provinces across Syria.

Damascus

The Syrian Army troops advanced towards the last stronghold of the Al-Nusra Front in Southwestern Damascus on Monday and managed to cut off the main supply road to the terrorists' main bastion, a field source confirmed.

The source said that the army men have imposed control over al-Zahar al-Aswad region and Najjar Farms and managed to capture the mountains stretching from the West of the village of Hineh North of Beit Jinn Farm - that is the house to the most important Al-Nusra stronghold in the region - to Bardaya mountains.

The source added that the army men further crossed Bardaya mountains and seized control over Kafr Hoor and Beit Tima regions up to Tal (hill) al-Ziyat.

The source said that the recent advances enabled the army men to cut off the Al-Nusra's supply line from the village of Beit Jinn to Beit Jinn Farm.

The area is the last in a chain of regions targeted by the Syrian army in a mop-up operation in Southwestern Damascus.

Meantime, The Syrian Army stormed a region under the control of the Al-Nusra Front in Eastern Ghouta and destroyed a 300-meter-long tunnel of the terrorists on Monday.

The army men launched fresh attacks on Al-Nusra in Eastern Ghouta and destroyed their tunnel in Tal Kurdi region in Damascus outskirts.

A field source said that the tunnel was 300 meters long and 8 meters wide, adding that the entire terrorists inside the tunnel were killed in the attack.

The Arabic-language al-Hadath news reported earlier today that a hundred non-Syrian members of Al-Nusra are to leave Eastern Ghouta for Idlib province based on an agreement between Faylaq al-Rahman and the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria.

It added that a hundred family members of Al-Nusra militants will also leave the region for Idlib under the pressure of the residents of Eastern Ghouta.

Residents of the region have been holding protest rallies in the past few months, demanding the Al-Nusra to leave Eastern Ghouta.

In the meantime, militant-affiliated websites reported that several buses have arrived in Eastern Ghouta to evacuate Al-Nusra members and their family members.

Idlib

The Syrian Army men managed to push back the Al-Nusra Front from more positions in Southern Idlib on Monday and deployed only six kilometers away from the town of Abu Dali, the Al-Nusra's key bastion in region.

The army men stormed the Al-Nusra positions in regions North of the village of al-Mosheirefeh and Tal (hill) al-Khanzir and managed to advance towards the town of Abu Dali in Southern Idlib.

The army men should capture Tal Moqata'a and Dajaj regions to reach Abu Dali, a field source said, adding that the army soldiers are only six kilometers away from Abu Dali after they captured Tel al-Khanzir.

Reports said earlier on Monday that the army troops targeted the positions of Al-Nusra Front in Northeastern Hama and Southeastern Idlib and managed to take control of another key region.

The army men, supported by artillery units and Air Force, stormed Al-Nusra positions in Southeastern Idlib and imposed full control over the small town of Tal (hill) al-Khanzir West of Syriatel hill.

The army men destroyed a number of positions and command centers of the terrorists, and seized a large volume of their arms and equipment.

Deir Ezzur

The Syrian Army troops warded off ISIL's large-scale attack on pro-government forces' positions in a region between the provinces of Deir Ezzur and Homs on Monday.

The army men exchanged heavy fire with ISIL in regions near the T2 Oil Pumping Station in Southwestern Deir Ezzur and al-Ma'eizileh in Southeastern Homs and managed to fend off their heavy attack.

The army men killed a number of terrorists and destroyed their military equipment.

Hama

Salahuddin al-Shishani, the emir of Al-Qaeda-Affiliated Islamic al-Turkistani Party, has been killed in clashes with the Syrian Army troops in Northwestern Hama, dissident-affiliated websites reported on Monday.

The websites reported that leader of the Islamic al-Turkistani Party Salahuddin al-Shishani was killed in clashes with the Syrian army soldiers on Sunday after the al-Turkistani Party and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) stormed the positions of the pro-government forces in a region between Zalin and al-Zalaqiyat near the small town of Halfaya in Northwestern Hama.

The Islamic al-Turkistani Party in affiliated to Al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

In the meantime, some sources reported that al-Shishani was killed in the Syrian army attacks while others said he lost his life in Russian air raids.

Al-Shishani, the self-declared Emir of Jeish al-Usra and former top man in the terrorist organizations of Imarat Kavkaz and Sham (IKS) and Jeish Mohajereen al-Ansar, was widely considered to have been the single most important foreign fighter within Al-Qaeda in Syria.

His organization, Jeish al-Usro, consisted mostly of Chechen and other North Caucasian terrorists, and was part of the Al-Qaeda affiliated Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at.

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