Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Army Imposes Control over Terrorists' Key Bastion in Damascus

Rasa - The Syrian army units managed to take control of terrorists' strategic military stronghold in Southwestern Damascus, killing scores of militants and injuring many more in heavy clashes.

News ID: 435483

Date: 25 December 2017 - 20:45

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 continued to hit the strongholds of the al-Nusra Front in Southwestern Damascus on Sunday and imposed control over a key position used by terrorists to launch attacks on government forces.

The army men engaged in a fresh round of clashes with the Al-Nusra in Southwestern Damascus and pushed them away from Khirbet Harqal near al-Hanaker Northeast of Harfa on the slopes of Jabal (mount) al-Sheikh near the border with Quneitra province.

Khirbet Harqal was one of the main strongholds of Al-Nusra in al-Haramoun Tajamo region from which the terrorist group's mortar and missile units were targeting the villages of Harfa and al-Maqrouseh.

The army men imposed full military control over Beit Jinn Farm and its road to the town of Beit Jinn after taking back Khirbet al-Harqal.

Hama

The Syrian Army soldiers carried out a preemptive strike on a group of terrorists and killed all the militants before they could attack the pro-government forces' strongholds in Northern Hama, military sources confirmed on Sunday.

The sources said that a group of terrorists that were planning to storm the army positions from Jurf al-Asi region near al-Zalaqiyat in Northern Hama were hit by the army men in a preemptive assault.

The terrorists came in the army's trap and suffered a heavy death toll.

In the meantime, the army's artillery shelled the remaining pockets of the terrorist group, leaving the entire members of the group dead.

Field sources said earlier on Sunday that hundreds of Liwa al-Quds Palestinian fighters-that had previously been dispatched to Deir Ezzur-were sent to Northern Hama to take part in an imminent large-scale operation against the Al-Nusra Front in Idlib province.

The sources added that the army men have had the terrorists under continued and vast artillery fire in Northern Hama in the last few days, including terrorists' strongholds in the towns of Kafr Zita and al-Latamina.

Meantime, Aqaba Riyadh al-Ali'awi, a notorious terrorist commander, was killed in a Syrian Army operation against the Al-Nusra Front in Northern Hama, field sources reported on Sunday.

The sources said that the army men engaged in heavy fighting with Al-Nusra in al-Musheirefeh and al-Latamina regions, killing a number of militants and destoning their equipment.

They further said that Aqaba Riyadh al-Ali'awi, a field commander of Jeish al-Izzah in the town of al-Latamina in Northern Hama, was also killed in the army attack.

Field sources said earlier on Sunday that hundreds of Liwa al-Quds Palestinian fighters - that had previously been dispatched to Deir Ezzur - were sent to Northern Hama to take part in an imminent large-scale operation against the Al-Nusra Front in Idlib province.

Idlib

The Russian Air Force continued to hit Southern Idlib on Sunday morning, striking several regions under the control of Al-Nusra Front.

Russian jets flying out of the Humeimim Airport in Jableh began the day by relentlessly bombing the Al-Nusra positions in the town of Abu Dali in Southern Idlib, the AMN reported.

Following the airstrikes on Abu Dali, the Russians targeted several other areas controlled by the Al-Nusra, including the towns of Mosheirefeh, al-Latamina, Al-Rahjan and Kafr Zita.

The Russian airstrikes came just hours after the Syrian Army launched more than 100 surface-to-surface missiles towards terrorists' positions in Northern Hama.

Lattakia

The Syrian Army has dispatched soldiers and military hardware to Northern Lattakia after Ahrar al-Sham terrorist groups reinvigorated its presence, a field source said on Sunday.

The sources said that the army has forwarded hundreds of fresh forces and a large volume of military equipment to Northern Lattakia, adding that Ahrar al-Sham, meantime, has sent more militants and heavy weapons to the region.

The sources said that last round of clashes between the army and the terrorist groups in the region took place in June 2016 and lasted until August of the same year.

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