Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Turkish Army Amasses Forces in Idlib Ahead of Damascus Offensive

Rasa - Ankara has sent military convoys to reinforce its presence in Idlib province in Northwestern Syria which is the only remaining terrorist stronghold in Syria, media reports said.

News ID: 439556

Date: 15 September 2018 - 20:52

RNA - The reinforcements come despite Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar's recent warnings against a military solution, the Arabic-language media reported.

Akar said during a meeting with foreign ambassadors that a military operation would drag the region towards a humanitarian catastrophe.

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

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

Idlib

Turkey sent convoys of troops to reinforce its presence in Syria's province of Idlib, the only remaining terrorist stronghold in the country.

The reinforcements come despite Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar's recent warnings against a military solution, Sputnik reported on Friday.

Akar said during a meeting with foreign ambassadors that a military operation would drag the region towards a humanitarian catastrophe, Anadolu News agency reported on Wednesday.

"We are working with Russia, Iran and other allies to bring peace and stability and to stop a humanitarian tragedy," Akar said, according to Anadolu.

Haaretz cited activists of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who reported earlier this week that a convoy of Turkish forces entered the province from the Kfar Lusin crossing in northern Idlib and then moved to some of the 12 Turkish observation points scattered throughout the province border.

Another monitoring group, the Central Station for Turkish Intervention, shot a video of armored vehicles and tanks driving by an Idlib road.

Both groups claimed the convoy was headed to two different observation points. Ankara has not yet commented on the reports.

Hama

One of the former commanders of terrorists in Eastern Ghouta was killed in the Syrian Army's artillery units' attack in Northern Hama, a field source said on Friday.

The source said that the artillery and missile units shelled heavily one of the positions of the terrorists in al-Latamina in Northern Hama, killing a group of terrorists in the position, including Khaled al-Tanawi nom de guerre Abu Omar Damashqi, once a commander of the terrorists in Jobar region in Eastern Damascus.

Al-Tanawi, a key commander in Eastern Ghouta battle, had in a video claimed that "the Damascus government is on verge of collapse".

Homs

A commander of the Pentagon-backed Maghawir al-Thawra militant group said that the drills, which wrapped up near the US military base in the Syrian town of al-Tanf, were the first such exercises and involved hundreds of rebels and US marines.

"The exercises have great importance and have enhanced the defenses of the area and improved the combat capabilities and morale and that of civilians in the area," Colonel Muhanad al- Talaa claimed.

According to Fars News Agancy, US military Spokesman Sean Ryan, for his part, described the war games as a show of force, which he said were conducted "to reinforce our capabilities and ensure we are ready to respond to any threat to our forces within our area of operations."

He added that the Pentagon used the so-called "de-confliction" channels to notify Russia of the drills in order to prevent "miscommunication or escalate tension."

Northern Syria

An Italian citizen fighting with the ISIL terrorists was captured in Syria recently, the official media wing of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) reported.

Semir Bogana nom de guerre Abu Hureyre Al-Muhajir) was captured in northern Syria recently after he attempted to flee to Turkey, the AMN quoted YPG as reporting.

“Semir Bogana was responsible for the shipments of weapons that were given to ISIL by the Turkish state and also has been in charge of the activities of the ISIL foreign fighters in Rojava,” the YPG claimed.

"Many details about the ISIL terrorist organization and its external relations have been revealed by the captured fighter, and an important progress has been made in the struggle against ISIL,” they added.

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