Syria in Last 24 Hours: Army Opens Heavy Fire at Terrorists’ Positions in Dara’a

The defense lines of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Tahrir al-Sham Hay’at (the Levant Liberation Board or the Al-Nusra Front) came under fire of the army’s artillery and missile units’ barrage in Al-Lijat region for the first time in several weeks.

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.

Dara’a

Terrorists’ strongholds in Eastern Dara’a came under heavy fire by the Syrian Army troops on Friday.

The army’s artillery and missile units shelled the defense lines of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Tahrir al-Sham Hay’at (the Levant Liberation Board or the Al-Nusra Front) in the Al-Lijat region for the first time in several weeks.

Furthermore, the Syrian Army’s attack was meant to fracture the front-lines of the militants before they launch their long-awaited offensive in Southern Syria.

The Syrian Army has already mobilized thousands of soldiers to participate in the upcoming Southern Syria offensive; however, the majority of these troops have deployed to Quneitra and Sheikh Meskeen region of Dara’a.

Terrorist groups in the Southern provinces of Dara’a and Quneitra formed a new coalition on Sunday amid the Syrian Army’s preparedness to launch an imminent large-scale operation to end militancy in the Southern part of the country.

The army dispatched a large number of fresh forces and a large volume of military hardware to Dara’a city and its countryside and Quneitra province in recent days as a prelude for kicking off an imminent operation against the terrorist groups in Southern Syria.

In the meantime, the army issued last warnings to the terrorists, calling on them to lay down arms and join reconciliation plan.

Field sources reported that several terrorist groups, including Ahrar al-Nowa, Shahid Jamil Abu al-Zein, al-Maqawir al-Khasa and Abna al-Joulan embarked on forming a new coalition named Jeisha al-Anqaz to face the army’s upcoming operation.

Hama-Idlib

The Russian Air Force carried out a fresh round of airstrikes on terrorists’ positions and movements in Northern Hama and Southern Idlib, destroying several bases and depots on Thursday night.

The fighter jets repeatedly struck the terrorists’ positions in the towns of Khan Sheikhoun, Kafr Zita, al-Latamina, Zakat and al-Salihiyah.

The airstrikes continued all night, despite the large presence of the Turkish troops in Northern Hama and Southern Idlib.

The Russians previously avoided launching airstrikes over this part of the country due to the recent Astana peace agreement; however, due to the recent attacks by the terrorists, the Russians have now resumed airstrikes over Northern Hama and Southern Idlib.

Aleppo

A sum of 4,500 Kurdish fighters have been killed or captured in the Turkish Army troops’ operation in Afrin region in Northwestern Aleppo, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Erdogan announced on Thursday that a sum of 4,500 Kurdish militias have been killed or held captive in the Ankara forces’ Operation Olive Branch in Afrin.

Operation Euphrates Shield took place from August 2016 to March 2017 in Northern Syria along the Turkish border.

Hawar news quoted a well-informed source as reporting on Monday that the Police Academy in Sivas province embarked on training a sum of 3,000 terrorists from different parts of Syria.

It further said that the Turkish army planned to deploy the militants under the name of the Free Police in Afrin region.

In the meantime, field sources reported that the Turkish army appointed Rami Talas, one of the commanders of Jeish al-Islam, as the chief of the new group also called as the Afrin police.

The sources further said that almost 700 members of the so-called police were deployed in the town of Afrin.