Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Army Sends Largest Military Convoy to North for Idlib Operation

Rasa - The Syrian army sent one of its largest military columns towards Northern Hama to take part in a large-scale anti-terrorism operation in the Northwestern province of Idlib on Saturday.

News ID: 439063

Date: 12 August 2018 - 23:06

RNA - Field sources said on Saturday that the army has dispatched one of the largest military convoys of the government forces, including a large number of infantries, military vehicles and heavy equipment to Northern Hama in line with preparing for an imminent operation to drive terrorists out of Idlib province, parts of Northern Hama, Southern Aleppo and al-Ghaab Plain.

The entire Syrian army units, including special forces, will take part in the upcoming operation.

Meantime, the Syrian army continued its military advances in other parts of Syria over past 24 hours.

Tens of terrorists were killed and dozens more were injured during the Syrian army's operations in provinces across Syria.

Idlib

One of the largest military columns of the army has moved towards Northern Hama to take part in a large-scale anti-terrorism operation in the Northwestern province of Idlib, field sources said on Saturday.

"The army has dispatched one of the largest military convoys of the government forces, including a large number of infantries, military vehicles and heavy equipment to Northern Hama in line with preparing for an imminent operation to drive terrorists out of Idlib province, parts of Northern Hama, Southern Aleppo and al-Ghaab Plain," the sources said.

Military experts say that the army will kick off its operation by liberating the two key towns of Kafr Zita and al-Latamina in Northern Hama that are located along the Damascus Highway to Aleppo.

The army soldiers will also push their way to al-Ghaab Plain in order to retake the historical town of Qal’at al-Madiq.

From Qal’at al-Madiq, the army men will make their way North towards the Jisr Al-Shughour region for the first time since they withdrew from the area in May of 2015.

Hama

The Syrian Army's artillery and missile units shelled heavily the strongholds of the non-Syrian members of Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board or the Al-Nusra Front) in Northern Hama on Saturday to pave the ground for the army's imminent large-scale operation in Northern Syria.

The artillery and missile units pounded the bases of al-Turkistani Islamic Party, the non-Syrian terrorists affiliated to Tahrir al-Sham, along the Eastern strip of al-Ghaab Plain in the villages of Tal Waset, al-Mansoureh and al-Ziyarah in Northwestern Hama, destroying the bases and inflicting heavy casualties on the foreign militants.

Other artillery units opened heavy fire at Tahrir al-Sham positions in the small towns of Kafr Naboudeh and Tal al-Sakhar in Northwestern Hama, inflicting major losses on the terrorists.

Terrorists of Kata'eb al-Izzah also suffered heavy casualties and their military hardware sustained major damage after the artillery units targeted their positions in the small towns of Ma'arkaba and al-Latamina in Northern Hama.

The army's artillery units further attacked the positions and movements of terrorists all across al-Ghaab Plain.

Deir Ezzur

The Syrian Army troops fended off a heavy offensive of the ISIL in Southeastern Deir Ezzur on Saturday, inflicting tens of casualties on the terrorists.

The army units, backed up by the artillery and missile units' heavy fire, engaged with ISIL near the town of Albu Kamal in Southeastern Deir Ezzur, and managed to fend off the terrorists' heavy attack.

ISIL suffered heavy casualties and further pulled back the remaining pockets of gunmen from the battlefield.

Sweida

The Syrian Army continued storming ISIL's strongholds in the Eastern Badiyeh (desert) of Sweida, liberating six more key regions in the region on Saturday.

The government forces, backed up by the army's artillery and missile units and aircraft, stormed ISIL in the Eastern Badiyeh of Sweida and pushed terrorists back from al-Zalaf Dam, Qala'a Qadimi, Toloul al-Qantara, Souh al-Na'ameh, Zahrat Rashed and Arz al-Kara'a.

Other units of the army managed to seize control over several areas in Tal Alam region in Badiyeh.

The ISIL suffered heavy casualties and its military hardware sustained major damage in the attack.

The Syrian Army troops continued operation in Eastern Badiyeh of Sweida and advanced more against ISIL, capturing several key points, areas and regions on Saturday.

The army men clashed with ISIL in Razimeh al-Shaqiyeh and advanced 8km towards al-Kara'a region in Badiyeh.

Also, other units of the army stormed ISIL's positions in Rami region and managed to impose control over Araz al-Rasi'ei, Taloul al-Zabaliyat and Arz Rajam al-Dabas 5km to the East of Ba'ar al-Rasi'ei near al-Zalaf region.

Aleppo

The Syrian Army's artillery and missile units opened heavy fire at terrorists' positions and movements in the Western countryside of Aleppo city after the latter targeted residential areas in Aleppo neighborhoods on Saturday.

The terrorists launched missile attacks on the towns of Nubl and al-Zahra in Northern Aleppo and on the neighborhoods of al-Hamdaniyeh, Jam'eiyat al-Zahra, Share'eh al-Nile and Halab Jadida West of Aleppo city, killing and wounding a number of civilians.

According to Fars News Agancy, the army's artillery and missile units, in response, targeted terrorists' centers and movements in the towns of Hayan, Andan and Haraytan in Western Aleppo.

Other artillery and missile units targeted terrorists' positions and movements in Bayanoun and al-Tamoureh in Northern Aleppo and in the village of al-Homeireh in Southern Aleppo.

Army reports said terrorists sustained major losses in the attack.

Damascus

The Syrian Army's air defense units opened fire at an intruding Israeli reconnaissance drone in Western Damascus near border with Lebanon, shooting it down, media outlets reported on Saturday.

SANA reported that the air defense units countered an enemy flying object in Deir al-Ashayer region in Western Damascus near the border with Lebanon on Friday midnight.

In the meantime, the Arabic-language website of Sputnik quoted a field sources as reporting that the air defense units fired two missiles at an Israeli spying drone after it crossed into Syria via Lebanon's borders, downing the drone in Deir al-Ashayer region in Western Damascus.

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