Hezbollah, Syria forces secure more areas in Qalamoun

Syrian government troops backed by fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement have retaken some new hilltops from Takfiri militants operating in the strategic, mountainous region of Qalamoun.

Syrian soldiers and Hezbollah fighters engaged the foreign-sponsored extremists in Qalamoun, located about 330 kilometers (205 miles) north of the Syrian capital, Damascus, and subsequently took control of Shoabat al-Bakara, Thalaja, Shoabat al-Shakara, Beit Shakour and Taleel Hajj Ali.

They later took complete control of Qurnat Dalil Semaa and Shoabat Awad. Scores of militants were killed or injured in the process.

On Monday, Hezbollah fighters and Syrian army forces thwarted an ISIL attack in northern Qalamoun, inflicting casualties on the ranks of the terrorist group.

The development came on the same day as Hezbollah fighters launched a missile attack on the positions of ISIL on the outskirts of the Lebanese town of Arsal, located about 124 kilometers (77 miles) northeast of the capital, Beirut. A militant vehicle equipped with a 33-mm machine gun was destroyed during the operation.