Syria army regains control of more strategic areas in Aleppo

The Syrian army units, backed by Hezbollah resistance fighters, have managed to liberate more strategic areas from the foreign-backed militants in the northern province of Aleppo.

Syria’s official news agency, SANA, quoted military sources as saying on Sunday that the army regained control of Khan Tuman and neighboring farms, and Qarassi village and the surrounding warehouses in the southern countryside of Aleppo province following heavy clashes with terrorists.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a Britain-based group close to Syria’s foreign-backed opposition, confirmed that Tuman and neighboring farms were now under full control of the Syrian army.

According to SOHR, Syrian government forces fighting on the ground were backed by Russian and Syrian aircraft during the major anti-militant offensive. The group added that the Russian and Syrian fighter jets conducted at least 40 airstrikes on militants’ positions across the troubled region.

The Syrian army also inflicted losses on the personnel and equipment of the militants. At least 16 militants were killed.

Khan Tuman has been the scene of violent clashes between Hezbollah fighters and members of al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front militant group.

Syrian forces backed by Hezbollah fighters have recently been making rapid advances against terrorists in several parts of the country.

The advances of the Syrian government forces against the elements of the Takfiri Daesh militants and other terrorist groups have been expedited by the air cover provided by Russia, which began on September 30.

Explosion hits military bus in Damascus

In a separate development on Sunday, at least nine people were injured in an explosion when a militant rocket hit a military bus in the Mazzeh residential district of western Damascus.

“Nine people were wounded by a rocket fired by terrorists at a bus on the road from Mazzeh into Damascus,” SANA quoted government sources as saying.

Witnesses said that the bus was badly damaged and its windows were shattered in the blast.

Cities and towns across Syria have been witnessing bomb attacks as well as mortar and rocket fire by Takfiri terrorists since a deadly conflict broke out in the country more than four years ago.

Since March 2011, Syria has been beset by foreign-backed militancy, which has so far claimed the lives of over 250,000 people and displaced millions of others.