Syrian forces established full control over the village of al-Tamora in the northwestern province of Aleppo on Sunday after they purged the remaining pockets of al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front terrorists and other militant groups from the area, Syria’s official news agency, SANA, reported.
A military source, declining to be identified, said government troopers have already defused scores of improvised explosive devices and mines, which terrorists had planted in the region to slow down Syrian army advances.
The development came a day after Syrian soldiers seized control of Zahra al-Qar’a and Zahra al-Qandilah heights as well as hilltops overlooking al-Tamora village, and cut the extremists’ supply route from Turkey.
A Syrian army unit also destroyed a number of terrorist hideouts in Tel Abdrabbeh area of al-Lirmoun district in Aleppo Province. There were no immediate reports on the number of extremists killed or injured in the process.
Also on Sunday, Syrian army soldiers and their allied forces restored security to the village of Job al-Kalb, which is located near the Kweiris air base. A considerable number of Daesh militants were killed and their positions destroyed during the operation.
Syrian artillery units struck Daesh bases in several villages of al-Bab district in the northeastern part of Aleppo Province, but no reports of casualties on the ranks of the Takfiris were immediately available.
Additionally, Syrian soldiers and pro-government fighters wrested control over several areas in Kinsabba district of the western coastal province of Latakia.
Syrian forces also liberated al-Bajabjah district in the southwestern province of Dara’a from the clutches of terrorists, killing a large number of them.
The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has claimed the lives of some 470,000 people and left 1.9 million injured, according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research.
Moreover, 6.36 million people have been displaced internally and more than four million others have fled the country since the beginning of the conflict. That accounts for 45 percent of the country’s population, which has shrunk by 21 percent.
Syria accuses Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar of funding and arming terrorist groups operating inside the country, including Daesh.
S/SH 11