Syrian army takes back town in Hama province from militants

Syrian armed forces have liberated a town in the west-central province of Hama in their latest push to win back areas held by foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorists.

An unnamed Syrian military source told the official SANA news agency that the army units managed to reestablish control over Ma’an in the northern countryside of Hama on Thursday.

The Syrian air force carried out intensive strikes against positions held by terrorists and their supply routes in villages and towns across Hama province, the source added.

A large number of militants were killed in the air raids that targeted their tanks and vehicles, some of which were equipped with different types of machine guns.

Another Syrian army unit also ambushed a terrorist group that attempted to infiltrate into a village in the southwestern countryside of Salamiyah in Hama.

Syrians loyal to motherland

In the neighboring province of Tartus, people gathered to sign a letter of loyalty to their homeland and President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday.

Hundreds of Syrians signed the 10-kilometer petition which will be delivered to international bodies.

The letter raps countries supporting terrorism in Syria and urges lifting the unilaterally imposed economic sanctions on the Arab country.

It further seeks “to send a message of love and loyalty to the homeland and its leader and to stress that the Syrian people will remain united despite all conspiracies,” said Shahd Ibrahim, deputy head of National Unity Youth Gathering that was among the organizers of Thursday’s event.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-sponsored militancy over the past five and a half years.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura have put the death toll from the Syria conflict at more than 300,000 and over 400,000, respectively.