The Syrian army has captured a terrain of 36 square kilometers in the western Qalamoun region, northwest of Damascus, over the past 24 hours, state TV reported on Sunday.

The Syrian army and the Lebanese Hezbollah group have advanced in Qalamoun in Syria and in the adjacent Juroud Arsal area on the Lebanese side of the borders, since both forces unleashed an offensive on Friday to clean the border area of al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front militants.

Meanwhile, a military source told Xinhua that the Syrian army and Hezbollah have completely secured the Flaita barrens in Qalamoun from the Nusra militants.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said that 46 Nusra militants were killed on Sunday in Juroud Arsal in Lebanese, and 23 others killed in the Fleita barrens on the Syrian side of the borders.

The battle aims to end the presence of the al-Qaida-linked militants in the barren areas of both countries, as the militants used to smuggle weapons and explosives to both countries using the barren areas.

source: xinhua