Syria army fighting to liberate Jisr al-Shughour

Syrian government forces are engaged in heavy exchanges of gunfire with foreign-sponsored militants in Jisr al-Shughour as they are set to liberate the strategic northwestern city from Takfiri terrorists, Press TV reports.

On Tuesday, the militants set ablaze a number of farming lands on the outskirts of Jisr al-Shughour, located about 330 kilometers (200 miles) north of the capital, Damascus, in an attempt to slow down the Syrian troops’ advance.

“Our immediate goal is to secure Hama Province and al-Qabun. We will then surround and win back Jisr al-Shughour, and subsequently the entire Idlib Province. Proximity to the Turkish border means that the terrorists have strong supply lines and endless reserves of ammunition,” a Syrian army officer, requesting anonymity, told Press TV.

Foreign-backed Takfiri militants, including those from the al-Nusra Front, took over Jisr al-Shughour in mid-April.

Later on Tuesday, Syrian soldiers backed by fighters from Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah hit terrorist positions in the southwestern city of Zabadani, northwest of the capital, Damascus, as they continue gaining ground in the strategic area.

The forces managed to retake Sahl Zabadani region from foreign-backed terrorists, before gaining complete control over Zabadani’s southern entrances as well as a road leading to Lake Barada.

For more than ten days, terrorists had disrupted the flow of Barada’s water to more than six million people in Damascus in a bid to stop the advance of Hezbollah and Syrian forces in Sahl Zabadani.

Foreign-backed terrorists began their deadly campaign in Syria in March 2011.

The UN says over 7.2 million people have been internally displaced, while more than three million others have fled to other countries due to the intolerable conditions caused by the crisis.