Syria troops fully purges Aleppo district of insurgents

Syrian Army soldiers have fully purged the al-Arqoub district of the flashpoint city of Aleppo of foreign-backed insurgents fighting government forces.

The armed men were killed on Tuesday during intense clashes with Syrian troops in the violence-plagued city, which is located 355 kilometers (220 miles) north of Damascus, the SANA news agency reported.

The report added that the Syrian Army operation was carried out following a tip-off from local residents about the insurgents’ whereabouts and terrorist activities.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Damascus says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the unrest and deadly violence, while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the armed militants are foreign nationals.