Syria in Last 24 Hours: Army Regains Control over More Regions in Damascus

The army units engaged in tough battle with the ISIL terrorists in Eastern Damascus after destroying the defense lines of the terrorists there and managed to capture another strategic area there.

The Syrian troops killed several terrorists and injured many more in fierce clashes over controlling of the strategic regions. They also destroyed military equipment of the terrorists.

The Syrian army also continued its advances in other key provinces across Syria.

Damascus

The Syrian Army troops continued their operation after termination of a daily ceasefire and drove terrorists out of another strategic region in Eastern Ghouta.

The army men stormed the terrorists deployed Southwest of the newly-freed Otaya settlement and seized control over Beit Nayem settlement.

Also, a field sources said that a number of terrorists were killed in the attack and the remaining pockets of the militants retreated to evade more casualties.

The army is planning to use Beit Nayem as a base to launch attacks on terrorists to take back other regions, including Hawsh al-Asha’eri and Mahmoudiyeh.

The Syrian Army troops have purged 40 percent of Eastern Ghouta of terrorists within the framework of their night operations and after the hours of the daily ceasefire in region end, field sources reported on Monday.

Meantime, the sources said that the army men managed to advance against terrorists in different flanks and deployed near the settlements of Mesraba and Beit Sawa, imposing control over almost 37 percent of lands in Eastern Ghouta in the last several nights.

The sources further said that other army units managed to take control over 3 percent of Eastern Ghouta in Harasta region, adding that an approximate 40 percent of Eastern Ghouta has been liberated in the operations in recent nights.

The militants’ continued attacks on non-military targets have caused the Syrian Army to intensify attacks on terrorists after hours of daily truce in Eastern Ghouta.

Spokesman for the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria Brigadier General Vladimir Zolotokhin said Sunday that the terrorist groups carried out a heavy mortar attack on a medical center in Eastern Ghouta during the daily ceasefire in the region.

Zolotokhin reported that the terrorist groups, deployed in Eastern Ghouta, carried out mortar attack on a medical center near a checkpoint West of the village of al-Reihanah, adding that six more mortar shells landed 200 to 400 meters away from the center.

He further said that the terrorists have embarked on periodical sniper attacks at checkpoints erected at the humanitarian corridor near al-Wafedeen camp, violating the ceasefire in Eastern Ghouta.

The brigadier general said that civilians are still unable to leave Eastern Damascus via the newly-set up humanitarian corridor due to the terrorist groups’ sniper and mortar attacks on the corridor, adding that the terrorists have fortified their positions in residential units, using women, children and the old as human shield.

Aleppo

The Turkish Army troops and Ankara-backed militants occupied several villages and heights within the framework of Operation Olive Branch against Kurds in Afrin region in Northwestern Aleppo, field sources reported on Monday.

The sources said that the army and its allied militants clashed with the Kurdish fighters and captured the village of Arnadah in Sheikh Hadid region West of Afrin.

The sources further said that the forces of Operation Olive Branch pushed the Kurds back from Mount Bafiloun and a village with the same name that were considered as one of the main strongholds of the Kurds, deploying at the gates of Sheran region across from the town of Azaz.

The sources added that the Ankara forces occupied the village of Khalili, Khalili hill and 1102 hills in Rajou region.

Dara’a

The terrorist groups in the Southern province of Dara’a intend to go on the offensive to shift the attention of the Syrian army and slow down its advances in Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, a media outlet reported on Monday.

The Arabic-language al-Watan daily quoted Commander of Qowat Shabab al-Sonah Abu Hessam as saying that the Free Syrian Army militants have stormed the Syrian army men in Southern Syria to change the scene in Eastern Ghouta and save their comrades that are losing battles with the government forces.

The daily further said that clashes with the ISIL have weakened the militant groups in Hawz al-Yarmouk in Western Dara’a, adding that the terrorist groups, hence, plan to merge and form a new front.

Terrorists in Southern Syria intend to decrease the army’s pressure on their comrades in Eastern Ghouta as the army soldiers have tightened noose on the militants in Eastern Damascus during the last week.

Fields sources said on Sunday that the Syrian army won control of over 20% of Eastern Ghouta of Damascus during the military operations in the region.

Field sources reported that the Syrian army succeeded in cleansing terrorists from areas South-East of Eastern Ghouta during its nightly operations in the past week, and earned control of al-Nashabiyeh, Hawsh al-Salehiyeh and Otaya regions.

They added that the army soldiers liberated almost 23sq/km of 106sq/km of territories occupied by terrorists in Eastern Ghouta during the operations.

Raqqa

The Syrian Army troops found a new mass grave in the Northeastern province of Raqqa that contains tens of bodies of civilians and military men believed to have been executed by the ISIL Takfiri terrorists, field sources said on Monday.

The sources reported that the army men found a mass grave of a number of civilians and military men, executed and buried by the ISIL, in the small town of Ramthan in Western Raqqa.

They added that the army forces have thus far transferred eight bodies from the grave to Aleppo military hospital for specifying their identity.

A Syrian official said in January that several mass graves with 10,000 bodies, including one with 4,000, were found in Raqqa city in Northeastern Syria.

The Arabic-language al-Watan daily quoted General Director of the Syrian Forensic Medicine Zaher Hajo as reporting that based on intelligence 10,000 bodies were buried in mass graves in Raqqa.

He further told al-Watan that 4,000 bodies were buried in one single grave, adding that the discovered graves were located in the regions that were under the Syrian Democratic Forces.