Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Army Fends Off Terrorists' Heavy Offensive in Demilitarized Zone in Idlib

Rasa - The Damascus Army warded off a heavy attack by Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board or the Al-Nusra Front) on their positions West of the town of Abu al-Zohour in the demilitarized zone in Southeastern Idlib.

News ID: 441330

Date: 03 November 2018 - 09:42

RNA - The Syrian government troops engaged in fierce clashes with Tahrir al-Sham and Horras al-Din militants who had launched heavy attacks from the demilitarized zone on army positions in Tal Sukriyeh-Abu Qamis region in West of Abu al-Zohour.

Several terrorists were killed and wounded during the tough battle with the Syrian army while others were forced to withdraw.

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

The Syrian army repelled a heavy attack by Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at on their positions West of the town of Abu al-Zohour in the demilitarized zone in Southeastern Idlib.

The Syrian army troops engaged in fierce clashes with Tahrir al-Sham and Horras al-Din militants who had launched heavy attacks from the demilitarized zone on army positions in Tal Sukriyeh-Abu Qamis region in West of Abu al-Zohour, killing and wounding several terrorists and forcing others to withdraw.

Meantime, the army attacked the terrorists' positions with artillery fire, a military source said, adding that a group of Tahrir al-Sham terrorists were also entrapped and killed in the army's booby trap in Tal Sukriyeh.

Tahrir al-Sham and its allies have not yet withdrawn from their positions in the arms-free zone declared under the Sochi agreement between Ankara and Moscow.

Aleppo

The Ankara-backed terrorists continued occupation of Afrin region in Northwestern Aleppo, stealing the town's natural resources and antiques.

The Kurdish-language Hawar News reported on Thursday that Ferqat al-Hamzeh, Sultan Murad, Faylaq al-Sham, Ahrar al-Sham and other terrorist groups in Afrin have cut the forest trees in the villages and jungles.

It added that a large number of the trees have been sent to Turkey, while several other cargoes have been sold to the Syrian dealers.

The terrorists also cut off and stole olive trees in different parts of Afrin after harvesting them.

According to the report, militants have started imposing their rule over new regions in Afrin, including Tal Haloubiyeh in Shara region and a hill between the village of Marateh and Bablit in Central Afrin, starting measures to extract artifacts and crops.

Turkey-backed militants have intensified plundering historical artifact in occupied Afrin region.

Raqqa

Tensions have increased in regions occupied by the Syrian Democratic Forces in Northeastern Syria, sources said, adding that residents of Raqqa have attacked a checkpoint and engaged in clashes with the SDF.

The sources said on Thursday that the civilians attacked the checkpoint in al-Qatar street of Northern Raqqa city after two people were killed by the SDF's gunfire.

They added that tensions between the two sides have sorely increased, noting that the Kurdish forces fired at people to disperse them, wounding five of them.

Also, reports said unknown assailants attacked an SDF patrolling vehicle in al-Saqiyeh district of Raqqa city with grenades, adding that two militants were injured in the incident.

Hasaka

A senior commander of the Kurdish militias in Northwestern Hasaka defected and escaped to Turkey as tensions rise between the Kurds and Turkish army at the Syrian borders.

The Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper quoted local sources in the town of Ra'as al-Ain in Western Hasaka near the borders with Turkey as saying that the commander, who has been named as Shiyar, has defected the militia group.

According to Fars News Agency, the paper added that the Turkish border guards provided security for Shiyar and transferred him on a vehicle to Turkey via the village of Tal Halaf.

The sources said that the Kurdish militants chased the car, but were forced to leave the region after they came under intense fire by the Turkish soldiers.

Tensions between the Kurds and Turkish army have heightened in Northern Syria.

Deir Ezzur

The Syrian army discovered a large number of weapons and military equipment, including US-made arms, at ISIL strongholds during cleansing operations in Eastern Deir Ezzur.

The army troops found several ISIL arms caches during their purging operations in al-Mayadeen region in Eastern Deir Ezzur on Thursday.

Military sources said the Syrian army forces have discovered 450,000 rounds of US-made machine-gun bullets among the weapons and equipment.

Despite Washington's attempts to deny its role in supporting the terrorist groups in Syria, the army regularly finds US-made weapons in militants' strongholds.

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