Syrian Arab Army retakes town northwest of Homs city

Around noon today, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and National Defence Forces (NDF) were able to fully recapture Khirbet Al-Sodah (Khirbet al-Sawda) along with three previously lost checkpoints near the town.

This area was infiltrated by rebel forces of Jabhat al-Nusra and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) overnight and still held by insurgents during the morning.

Effectively, due to its recapture, government troops were able to reopen the Homs-Masyaf highway which runs northwest of the provincial capital of Homs.

The Islamist offensive was intended to reach rebel fighters still held up at Al-Waer, the last district inside Homs city which still maintains an insurgent presence.

Other rumours claim it to be retaliation over the SAA pushing an offensive to capture the Darayya suburb in the Syrian capital, a symbolic stronghold for the Syrian Opposition.