Syria in Last 24 Hours: Army Planning Vast Operations in Lattakia Countryside

The Syrian army is preparing for large-scale operations against the Takfiri terrorists in the Western province of Lattakia, informed sources announced.
Different parts of Lattakia province have been the scene of heavy clashes between the government troops and the terrorist groups, most of them foreign-backed and Takfiri terrorists, in the last 72 hours, the military sources said.

Tens of Takfiri terrorists, including Marvan Kurdieh, were killed during the clashes on Saturday.

Also in the past 24 hours, the Syrian army stormed the hideouts of the armed groups on the outskirts of Hama province, leaving a large number of militants dead and wounded.

The Syrian soldiers made gains in their fight against the rebels in the areas of Rasm al-Qahera, al-Qunitrat, Kenti, al-Fasda, Atshan and al-Latamneh in Hama countryside and killed scores of them.

Elsewhere, the militants suffered major losses in the town of Atman Tafas in Daraa, as the army made further advances in the province.

Meantime, a report said that the Syrian army struck a severe blow at the armed groups in the Eastern Ghouta and Jobar and killed a large number of Takfiri terrorists, including three top commanders.

Reports coming out of the area said that the army troops had claimed the lives of scores of the terrorists, including three senior leaders, Abo Zaid Qannas, Zaid Qannas and Abo Abdo Tafjir, in the Eastern Ghouta and Jobar.

Also, well-informed sources said that the military commander of the so-called “The Islamic Union of the Levant’s Soldiers” in Eastern Ghouta in Damascus, nicknamed abu Zaid Qanas, was assassinated by unknown gunmen.

It is worth noting that the unknown groups attempted to assassinate another commander who affiliates with the “Union” in the area of Arbin.

The “Union” responded by issuing a statement that accused al-Nusra Front of being behind that attempt.

Meantime, informed military sources said that the Syrian army has gained the upper-hand in Jobar after winning full control over strategic areas in the region.

The sources told FNA that army troops have taken full control over several strategic districts of Tayyebeh Grand Mosque and Al-Barid districts in Jobar countryside.

Concurrent with the Syrian army’s advances in Jobar town, air force struck the terrorists’ positions near Zulmaka Bridge and in the surrounding areas of Al-Motehaleq.

Meantime, the Syrian army destroyed the gathering centers of terrorists in Tal al-Savan and Tal Kurdi regions.

Last month, the Syrian army uncovered a network of tunnels in the Jobar area.

A senior army official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the tunnel network had been around 200 meters long, and that one of the tunnels terminated in a small chamber where militants kept abductees who were forced to dig down, while two other tunnels terminated in bases where the armed groups planned their operations.

He added that too many militants who were holed up in the tunnels were killed during the operation.

Also, Kurdish fighters, who regained control of the town of Kobani on the Syrian border with Turkey on January 26, expelled ISIL terrorists from tens of the neighboring villages in major offensives.

“The number of villages that the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have taken back from the ISIL since January 26 has exceeded 100,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.

The loss of the border town is viewed as a major blow to the Takfiri terrorists, which started advancing on the town on September 16, 2014, in order to strengthen control over a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border.

The final battles for Kobani claimed the lives of more than 1,600 people, most of them from ISIL.

Some 200,000 people escaped to Turkey from Kobani and the adjacent villages due to the clashes over the past few months and now most of them cannot return because of the scope of destruction.

At least 3,710 ISIL terrorists have been killed in the Syrian border town of Kobani after more than four months of fighting.

Top Syrian Kurdish military commanders announced in a new report on Saturday that the ISIL terrorists suffered major losses during the four-month-long fighting, adding that the Kurdish offensives on the Takfiri group left more than 3,710 terrorists dead and 102 of their vehicles destroyed.

Kurdish fighters expelled ISIL terrorists from Kobani after more than four months of fighting.

Syria has been the scene of insurgency since 2011 when certain western powers and their regional allies voiced loudly that Syrian protests have no diplomatic solution and they started supplying the country’s opposition groups with their arms and funds.

In 2014, specially after victory of President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s presidential election, the army has gained upper hand in its anti-terrorism campaign, and has been partly successful in sealing borders with Turkey and Jordan.