URGENT: Syrian Army Moving to Win Control of Another Strategic Airbase

Military sources said the Syrian army and National Defense Forces (NDF) have already won control over the village of Nawleh near the strategic Marj al-Sultan Airbase, and killed a large number of Jeish al-Islam and al-Nusra Front Takfiri terrorists.

“The pro-government forces are now in control of 80% of the territories South the strategic airport,” the source told FNA on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the Syrian army continued to advance against the Takfiri terrorists in Eastern Ghouta and retook strategic areas from the foreign-backed militants.

The Syrian troops took full control over al-Mahalej area, to the South of Marj al-Sulatn, and the farms surrounding it, a military source said.

Yesterday, the Syrian army, popular forces and Hezbollah forces, backed up by Syrian and Russian air force, lifted the two and a half-year-long siege of Kuweires military airbase after killing hundreds of ISIL terrorists.

Unconfirmed reports said the groundbreaking victory was gained under the leadership of Iran’s renowned Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani.

The Syrian troops and Hezbollah forces rolled into the Kuweires airport at the end of their daylong last phase of massive operations.

Heavy clashes were underway around the Kuweires airport since Tuesday morning and the Syrian army was defusing ISIL’s minefield before they could reach their friends in the base.

There are unconfirmed reports from the battlefield about witnessing Iran’s Major General Qassem Soleimani leading the battle.

Sources from both sides of the war said General Soleimani was the top field commander and has been leading the CentCom of the Syrian army-NDF-Hezbollah at least for the last two days.

FNA is unable to confirm or reject these reports independently.

The Syrian army, the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Hezbollah combatants, backed up by Russian warplanes, launched the last round of their over one-month-long joint operations against the ISIL terrorists’ positions in Eastern Aleppo near the Kuweires airbase Tuesday morning, and won full control over the strategic Aleppo-Raqqa Highway.

The attack started from multiple directions and ended up in cleaning up several villages from ISIL. Hundreds of the ISIL militants were killed or wounded in the operations.

In the next stage, Syrian and Russian Air Forces massively targeted the last strongholds of the ISIL militants around the Kuweires airbase.

In addition to the Syrian and Russian airstrikes, the artillery and mortar units of the army also shelled the ISIL strongholds to weaken their defense lines as much as possible to lay the ground for the combatants of Hezbollah, the army soldiers and the National Defense Forces to launch the final phase of their joint operations to lift the siege on Kuweires airbase.

Intelligence sources said hundreds of ISIL militants were fleeing the Kuweires region to safer areas to save their lives after suffering heavy casualties in the joint massive attack of the Syrian Army and Hezbollah with the Russian air backup.

After cleaning the region, the pro-government troops had to defuse a minefield planted by the ISIL before they could reach the gates of airbase.

Hundreds of Syrian forces were under a tight siege at the airbase as a result of the occupation of vast areas surrounding the airport by the terrorists.

When under the siege, the Syrian army’s helicopters supplied foodstuff and other needs to the Syrian troops defending the airport.