Syrian Army Resolved to Conquer ISIL’s Main Stronghold in Hama

Military sources said that the recent advances of the Syrian Army and its allies in the Eastern and Northeastern parts of Hama province have paved the way for the government forces to push East and capture the town of Aqayrabat known as the main stronghold of the ISIL in Hama province.
“Aqayrabat, as the main base of the ISIL, the safest town in the province home to ISIL members’ families and one of the most important bases of the Takfiri group to equip it vehicles with improvised explosive devices to carry out suicide attacks, in one of the main targets of the Syrian army and popular forces in their fight against terrorism,” the sources said, adding, “Liberation of Aqayrabat will end the ISIL rule in Hama province.”

“Seizure of the strategic road of al-Mab’oujeh to Salba region by the Syrian army has given the government forces’ upper hand in carrying out liberation operation of Aqayrabat,” the sources added.

“Aqayrabat’s proximity to Aleppo-Damascus highway and gas fields has doubled the town’s strategic importance for both government and terrorist groups ,” they went on to say.

In relevant developments on Friday, the Syrian fighter jets targeted the strongholds of al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front on Northern Hama, pinning down the militants behind their defense lines.

“The ISIL concentration centers and gatherings near the small town of Atshan came under massive bombardments of the Syrian Army aircraft,” the sources said adding, “At least five members of the Takfiri group were killed and several more were wounded in the attacks.”

“The Syrian airstrikes slowed down the militant group’s military movements in the region,” the source went on to say.

Earlier this week, the Syrian army units conducted special operations against the gatherings of ISIL Takfiri terrorists in the Eastern parts of Hama province, killing and wounding several militants.

According to a battlefield source, an army unit clashed with a group of ISIL Takfiri terrorists at the axis of al-Mab’oujeh-Akareb in the Eastern parts of Salamiyah city, killing and injuring scores of them and destroying their weapons.

Another army unit destroyed, in a special operation, a mortar launcher for the ISIL in Qleib village in the Eastern countryside of the province.