Syrian troops enter Jisr al-Shughour

The Syrian military has begun operations in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour, where the government said 120 security troops were killed.

Syrian authorities say the troops were dispatched to the region following repeated pleas by local residents for the army’s intervention to restore peace, stability and social order.

At least 120 Syrian soldiers were killed after armed groups attacked police and security stations in the town earlier in the week. Some 200 others were also injured in the clashes throughout the town.

Armed groups also took over parts of Jisr al-Shughour and torched a number private and government properties in the town, prompting many residents to flee.

According to Syria’s state TV, the armed groups had set up barricades of burning tires on roads leading to Jisr al-Shughour in Idleb province and set fire to crops and trees around the town in order to slow the army’s advance.

The troops, however, managed to enter the region and arrested several members of the armed groups in villages around Jisr al-Shughour on Friday, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported, without giving details about the ongoing operation.

The Syrian government says the weapons used during clashes in Jisr al-Shughour were smuggled into the country from Turkey and that some members of the terrorist groups behind days of deadly clashes in the town have escaped to Turkey.

Meanwhile, state TV broadcast a phone call between two members of the armed groups who committed terrorist acts in Jisr al-Shughour region, revealing that the armed men are planning to leave the area for Turkey as displaced local citizens.

During the conversation, the armed men are instructed to leave the area in order “to win the public opinion with the aim to claim that there aren’t any armed members in Jisr al-Shughour,” SANA reported.

They were also urged to post images of those leaving the area on the internet in an attempt to convince the world that the local residents are fleeing to nearby Turkey over government operations.

Since the beginning of unrest in Syria in mid-March, hundreds of people, including security forces, have been killed.

The opposition accuses security forces of being behind the killings. But the government blames armed gangs for the deadly violence, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to bring those behind the killings to justice.