Damascus - Noura Khowam
Syrian government forces have freed a large area of land which was previously held by the Daesh terrorist group in the country’s central regions. Syrian forces liberated the around 2000 kilometers of land located in the Homs province’s Badiya region on Saturday, some two days after besieging the territory.
According to military sources, the territories were liberated following intensive operations against Daesh-held positions to the north of the town of Sukhnah, which was retaken from the terrorists earlier in the month. The sources noted that a large number of terrorists were killed in the operations, and their equipment and weapons were also destroyed.
The full liberation of Badiya is seen as key for retaking Dayr al-Zawr, the last Syrian province that remains almost completely under Daesh’s grip. On Thursday, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the Syrian troops, advancing against terrorists in the north and south of the region, recaptured Jabal Dahek area and dealt a "strategic" blow to the Daesh elements in Badiya.
Over the past months, Syrian forces have been fighting for Badiya, which stretches from central Syria to the Iraqi and Jordanian borders and has been under Daesh’s control since 2014. Daesh has retreated from much of the territory under its control amid recent sweeping gains made by Syrian army soldiers and allied fighters against the terror outfit.
In the same context, the fighting is still ongoing violently between the rebel and Islamic factions against Jaysh Khalid Ibn al-Walid, which pays allegiance to ISIS, in areas in Yarmouk Basin in the western countryside of Daraa, and the SOHR learned that the clashes concentrated in the vicinity of Jilin and the Libya Company, Ishtra, and MD Brigade, amid heavy shelling by the factions on areas controlled by Jaysh Khalid Ibn al-Walid, which targeted the factions-held areas. The factions started their offensive on the 28th of August 2017.
SOHR published today that the attacking factions had brought huge military reinforcements for this battle. This coincides with the calm prevailing the western countryside of Daraa since the 9th of July 2017, the date in which the Russian-American-Jordanian truce came into effect, imposing cessation of hostilities and ceasefire in the Provinces of Daraa, Al-Suwaidaa and Al-Quneitra in the southern Syria.
The regime forces resumed shelling areas in the towns of Kafrlaha and Telzahab in al-Houla area in the northern countryside of Homs, causing injuries, and the shelling was accompanied by the airstrikes on places in Telzahab and Teldo towns in al-Houla area in the northern countryside of Homs, while several shells fell on areas in the villages of al-Shania, al-Kabo, Fulla, Maryameen in the northern countryside of Homs, which are controlled by the regime forces, causing material damage, without any information about casualties.
On the other hand, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the busses carrying members of the “Islamic State” organization and their families started to move from Sheikh Ali crossing area in Jurud Qara in the western Qalamoun, at the Syrian-Lebanese border, heading towards the province of Deir Ezzor, most of which are controlled by the “Islamic State” organization, where the busses have moved after they were gathered for hours in Jurud Qalamoun, and this came to start the implementation of the 2nd step of the agreement, after the organization handed over bodies they had in Jourod of Western Qalamoun, and by this exit of the organization from the area, the regime forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah would control th whole Syrian – Lebanese border, with the exception of several kilometers in the southwestern Rif Diamshq from the area opposite to Shab’a Farms.
On the other hand, Leading member of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said that Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battling ISIS in Raqqa have taken a children’s hospital that ISIS was using as a headquarters in the city. SDF forces liberated the children’s hospital in southwestern Raqqa after violent clashes that resulted in the deaths of 16 ISIS militants, the Raqqa liberation campaign announced Sunday evening.
The Syrian Democratic Forces militias announced capturing the Children Hospital in the old neighborhoods of Raqqa, after violent clashes with the Islamic State militants. The SDF Spokesman Mostafa Bali said that the Syrian Democratic Forces militias captured the Children Hospital in the old neighborhoods of Raqqa from the grip of the Islamic State militants.
The military confrontations resulted in the killing of more than 15 members of the Islamic State group, Bali added. The SDF fighters advanced in al-Nahda neighborhood, and the old neighborhood located in eastern Raqqa, he explained.