Syria in Last 24 Hours: Army Regains Control of Strategic Hill in Eastern Ghouta

The Syrian army continued its major advances in different parts of Eastern Ghouta in Damascus countryside, and regained control over a strategic hill in the region.
The army units took back Um Raman Hill in Eastern Ghouta in heavy clashes with the foreign-backed militants.

Also in the past 24 hours, the army forces targeted the strongholds of the rebels in the areas of al-Samdanyeh and al-Gharbyeh in Quneitra, and inflicted heavy casualties on them.

Meantime, the insurgents sustained major losses in Hama province, as the army gained ground in al-Aqerbat, Jana al-Albawi, Wadi al- Izam, al-Souja, and al-Latamina areas.

Elsewhere, the hideouts of the rebels came under heavy fire in Sha’er, Bait Rab’a, Kafr-Laha, al-Majbal, al-Qale’a, al-Rawd, and Abu al-Alaya, as the army made major advances in the nearby areas of Homs.

Meantime, the Syrian troops struck a heavy blow at the insurgents in the areas of Jabal al-Zawya, Tal al-Sultan, Abu al-Dohour, al-Ameryeh, and Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib, leaving too many of them dead and injured.

Elsewhere, the army soldiers stormed the gathering centers of the rebels in al-Sheikh Miskeen, Tafas, Ibta’, Kaheil, and al-Jeiza in the nearby areas of Daraa, killing and injuring scores of them.

Also, the Syrian troops inflicted heavy casualties on the militants in Kafr al-Hamrar, al-Sheikh Lutfi, Hraitan, Karm Maysar, al-Haj bridge, al-Kallasa, Karm al-Jazmati, Ayn Jara, al-Ramousa, Khan al-Assal and Koroum Aziza in Aleppo and its countryside.

Meantime, the UN investigators said ISIL Takfiri terrorists are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity on a large scale in areas under the group’s control in Syria.

In its first report focused squarely on acts by ISIL, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria presented on Friday a horrifying picture of what life was like in areas controlled by the terrorists group, including massacres, beheadings, torture, sexual enslavement and forced pregnancy.

“The commanders of ISIL have acted willfully, perpetrating these war crimes and crimes against humanity with clear intent of attacking persons with awareness of their civilian or ‘hors de combat’ (non-combat) status,” the investigators said.

“They are individually criminally responsible for these crimes,” they added.

The commission called on the perpetrators to be brought to justice, for instance, before the International Criminal Court.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs and terrorists against both the army and civilians.

The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle-East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.

As the foreign-backed insurgency in Syria continues without an end in sight, the US government has boosted its political and military support to Takfiri extremists.