Syria in Past 24 Hours:

Syrian Army Gives Last Ultimatum to Terrorists in Dara'a, Quneitra

Rasa - The Syrian Army gave a last ultimatum to the terrorist groups in the Southern provinces of Dara'a and Quneitra on Wednesday to lay down arms and join the reconciliation plan.

News ID: 438242

Date: 14 June 2018 - 22:31

RNA - The Syrian Army gave a last ultimatum to the terrorist groups in the Southern provinces of Dara'a and Quneitra on Wednesday to lay down arms and join the reconciliation plan.

Dara'a, Quneitra

The army gave a 48-hour-long ultimatum to the terrorists in Dara'a and Quneitra to join the peace plan in the region and surrender to the government forces.

In the meantime, local sources reported that commanders of terrorist groups have not accepted yet the Russian Reconciliation Centers' call for peace talks, adding that a wave of disunity and defection has started in the terrorist front over the peace agreement.

The army has in recent day sent a large volume of military equipment and a large number of forces to prepare for an imminent large-scale operation in the region.

Also on Wednesday, a pro-Syrian government commander announced that the Syrian army has reinforced its anti-aircraft defense systems in the country’s southwest near the border areas of Golan Heights against potential attacks from Israel.

The commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the army plans to deploy additional defenses in the coming days.

The Syrian army has stationed Russian-made Pantsir S1 weapon in an attempt to "renew the air defense system against Israel in the first degree", the commander said.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army forces are gearing up for an offensive against militant groups at the border with Israel and Jordan.

The commander noted that grounds are fully prepared for the offensive in the Southwest, but government forces currently focus on eliminating a pocket of Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) Takfiri terrorists near the government-held Southern town of Sweida.

Israel wants Syrian allied forces such Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement away from the Golan Heights, but Hezbollah leader Seyed Hassan Nasrallah says the group will maintain its presence in Syria as long as Damascus wants them to do so.

Hasaka

More civilians were killed and wounded in the US-led coalition air raid in Southeastern Hasaka on Wednesday.

The US fighter jets bombed heavily the village of al-Hardan, killing four civilians and wounding another one.

In the meantime, local sources reported that the US-backed Syrian Democratic Force opened artillery fire at the small towns of al-Souseh and al-Baqouz in Southeastern Deir Ezzur, injuring several civilians.

Also on Wednesday, tensions went high again among the Arab and Kurdish gunmen of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Northeastern Hasaka province.

A fresh round of tensions have been reported between the Kurdish militias of the SDF and al-Sanadid gunmen, another US-backed group, near the small towns of al-Qahtaniyeh and Momeilan.

The tensions erupted after a number of al-Sanadid gunmen were forcefully expelled from the town of Tal Abyadh in Northern Raqqa that caused al-Sanadid to put fighters on alert.

In the meantime, al-Sanadid militants captured a sum of 10 Kurdish militants in al-Ratlah region near al-Qahtaniyeh Eastern of the border town of Qamishli.

Al-Sanadid further set up more checkpoints near the villages of Hamoker and Tal Mosh'han in Romeilan oil-rich region.

The Kurdish members of the SDF show concerns over an armed attack by the US-backed Arab gunmen in Northern Syria.

Idlib

Syria's National Defense Forces (NDF), deployed in the besieged towns of Fua'a and Kafraya in the Northeastern countryside of Idlib city, warded off a heavy offensive of Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board or the Al-Nusra Front) on Wednesday.

The NDF engaged in fierce clashes with Tahrir al-Sham that tried to prevail over the pro-government forces' positions in the Shiite towns of Fua'a and Kafraya North-East of Idlib city from Brouma region.

The NDF managed to detonate three explosive traps among the terrorists, killing and wounding a number of them and repelling their attack which was the heaviest in the last three years.

In the meantime, the NDF artillery units opened heavy fire at a group of Tahrir al-Sham that intended to break through the government forces' positions from a region between al-Sawaqiyh and Fua'a, inflicting major losses on the terrorists.

Also, a field source said that the remaining pockets of the terrorists retreated after their attacks on Fua'a and Kafraya failed.

The recent attack on the besieged towns was the third in the last week.

In a relevant development on Wednesday, two rival terrorist groups embarked on exchanging heavy fire in a region in Northwestern Syria near the border with Turkey amid intensified assassination operations in Idlib province.

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at clashed fiercely with a rival terrorist group near Bab al-Hawa passageway at Syria-Turkey border.

A number of both warring sides were killed or wounded in the clashes.

In the meantime, a number of terrorists were killed or injured after a bomb went off near a checkpoint in the small town of Ma'arat al-Nu'aman.

Security situation in Idlib province has been deteriorated following recent assassination operations in the region.

Hama

The Syrian Army opened heavy fire at the strongholds and movements of Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at in Northern Hama after the terrorists targeted government forces' positions on Wednesday.

Tahrir al-Sham and allied militants fired several rockets at the army positions in Halfaya and Batish checkpoint in Northern Hama.

The army's missile and artillery units, in response, opened heavy fire at the terrorists' movements and positions in Kafr Zita, Ma'arkabeh and its outskirt, al-Zakat, al-Latamina and al-Safsafiyeh regions in Northern Hama.

Several vehicles and a large volume of arms and ammunition were destroyed and a number of militants were killed or wounded in the army fire.

Homs

Officers of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria have found an ammo cache in the village of Um-Sharshuh, Homs province, said Major General Alexei Tsygankov, the chief of the Russian Center.

"Thanks to intelligence obtained by the Syrian security agencies, an ammo cache was recovered in the Eastern part of the populated locality of Um-Sharshuh. An anti-tank guided missile, three reactive shaped charge mines, 52 hand anti-tank grenade launchers and over 8,500 pieces of ammunition were handed over to the government forces," the Russian commander said.

Raqqa

Popular uprising against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is rise in Raqqa province, local sources reported on Wednesday, adding that people in some regions have hoisted the Syrian government flags.

According to Fars News Agancy, the sources said that people in al-Mashlab and al-Romeileh neighborhoods in Northern and Northeastern parts of Raqqa city poured into the streets and protested against the SDF, calling for expulsion of the Kurdish militias from the region.

The sources pointed to the people's growing rage against the SDF's measures, including forced recruiting of young men in the region, adding that a number of civilians in al-Mashlab have hoisted Syrian government flags over the buildings.

The sources further said that the SDF opened fire to disperse protesters and embarked on arresting civilians.

847/940