Syrian Army Fends Off Large-Scale Terrorist Attack in Hama Countryside, Progresses into Aleppo
Local Editor
The Syrian armed forces and volunteer units aided by Russian air power managed to drive back an extremist onslaught in the northern Hama province, a day after al-Nusra-aligned groups announced a full-scale operation to regain weakening positions.
The terrorist offensive started with an attempt on Monday to storm the Hama governorate’s northern countryside via the town of Morek located in the Suran sub-district. According to a local commander in the area the terrorists used “gas canisters” to try and penetrate the army’s defenses.
“In their attacks al-Nusra fighters widely used gas canister with yellow-colored substance,” he said. “But we managed to lure them into a trap where we destroyed all the fighters,” the commander said, adding that the army also wiped out three cars and a bulldozer used by the extremists in their attacks on security positions.
Fierce fighting between Syrian government forces and local militias managed to break an al-Nusra and its affiliates’ offensive. Affiliates include the Syrian militant groups known as Tajammu al-Izzah and Jaish al-Fatah, whose aim was to seize the northern and western suburbs of Hama and secure the groups’ grip of Idlib governorate.
Syria’s SANA news agency’s sources said that the successful operation resulted in the destruction of al-Nusra leadership headquarters in Morek in addition to two other command posts in the region. At least 37 Takfiri militants were reportedly killed.
Another commander of the Syrian forces in the area praised the army’s achievement in driving the terrorist forces back.
“By implementing a plan developed with the support and operation of the Russian and Syrian aircraft, we managed to surround the armed terrorist groups and destroy dozens of militants, including 15 vehicles with heavy DShK machine guns, five armored vehicles and two armored cars laden with bombs,” he said.
After fending off the al-Nusra assault, the army and the volunteer units continued their counter-offense in the region. Ten positions and a number of vehicles and rocket launching pads belonging to Jaish al-Fatah terrorists were destroyed during army operations in the countryside of Idlib and Hama provinces. According to SANA, over 30 al-Nusra and a number of Fursan al-Haq extremist militants were killed in “intensive operations” by pro-government forces.
In a related notion, the Syrian army units continued its progress on Tuesday on the front of Paschkoa in northern countryside of Aleppo, and managed to take control of the neighboring Hardetanin village, leaving armed terrorist operatives between killed and injured.
Earlier on Monday, the army units overtook the armed groups, and established control over the villages of Dower Al-Zaytoun and Tell-Jabin after inflicting the terrorists with heavy losses.
Moreover, the Syrian army and Popular Committees managed to besiege the town of Ratyan in northern Aleppo countryside, after they approached Nobbol and Zahraa blockaded towns in the area.
“The national army is just a few kilometers from the seized Nobbol and Zahraa towns in rural Aleppo,” Al-Manar TV correspondent reported.
He added that the Syrian army also managed to cut the militants’ supply routes linking Meyer, Hayyan, Hraytan and Andan in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
Source: Al-Ahed news
