Syria in Past 24 Hours: Al-Nusra Withdraws from Positions in Golan Heights

Quneitra

The Syrian army men, backed up by the artillery and missile units, stormed Al-Nusra’s strongholds in the Western direction of Tal Bardaya and managed to push the terrorists back from more positions.

According to a battlefield source, the Syrian Army is attempting to seize the hilltop to impose fire control over the large pocket of militants near the occupied Golan Heights.

Also, a field sources reported that the army has dispatched a number of forces and equipment to the Western slope of the hill to repel terrorists’ possible attacks.

Idlib

The Syrian Army troops continued to storm terrorists’ strongholds in their push towards Idlib from different directions and managed to advance against militants in Southeastern Aleppo on Wednesday, inching closer to Abu al-Dhohour airbase.

The army men drove terrorists out of the village of Mazra’a Southwest of Khanasser after taking control over the villages of Azizeh and Abisan.

The army soldiers, also, managed to capture the villages of Rasm al-Kabara al-Reshadiyah and Rasm al-Khala.

A field source reported that the army troops advanced over 18 km deep into the terrorist-held territories towards Abu al-Dhohour airbase from Khanasser direction.

Also in the past 24 hours, a fresh wave of arrests of notorious Al-Nusra Front commanders has started under the supervision of the Turkish army in Idlib province, an Arab media outlet reported.

The Arabic-language al-Mayadeen news network reported that the Al-Nusra has intensified arrest and incaceration of its senior commanders in Idlib province.

In the meantime, local sources said that the Al-Nusra has arrested Abu Mas’ab Libiya’yee, Abu Abdul Rahman al-Maleki, the emir of Al-Nusra’s Epic Soldiers and Abu Khadija Ordoni, the emir of border units and seven other commanders in training centers and 11 muftis (religious leaders) that had previously worked with Jund al-Aqsa along with tens of senior members of the group.

The sources further pointed to the differences between Al-Nusra Commander-in-Chief Abu Mohammad al-Julani and other dissident commanders that were ideologically close to Al-Qaeda and have opposed the Turkish army’s plan to enter Idlib.

They added that the arrest of the dissident commanders by Al-Nusra was carried out at the order of the Turkish army to end riot in Al-Nusra’s ranks.

The sources, meantime, disclosed that the Turkish intelligence service supervised the capture of the commanders and a patrolling vehicle of the Turkish army accompanied Al-Nusra’s convoy of vehicles in the terrorist group’s attack on the neighborhoods of al-Qosour, al-Thowra and al-Rana Idlib.

Also on Wednesday, the Syrian army troops launched a fresh phase of anti-terrorism operation through a new direction towards Idlib, imposing control over more regions, local sources confirmed.

The sources reported that the army that has been operating through Eastern Hama has kicked off a fresh offensive through a new direction towards Abu al-Dhohour airbase in Southeastern Idlib.

The sources said that the army men chose Southeastern Aleppo to storm terrorists’ positions in Abu al-Dhohour, capturing the villages of Azizeh and Abisan in the early hours of their operation.

Aleppo

The Turkey-backed Ahrar al-Sham and al-Shamiyeh Front terrorist groups exchanged heavy fire in Northeastern Aleppo, dissident-affiliated websites reported on Wednesday.

The websites reported that Ahrar al-Sham and al-Shamiyeh Front exchanged heavy fire in Ka’abiyeh region near the town of Jarabulus in Northeastern Aleppo, inflicting casualties on each other.

The websites pointed to the intensification of infighting in the region, adding that the clashes have spread to other terrorist-held regions near the town of al-Bab in Aleppo.

The clashes came after the terrorist groups affiliated to the Turkey-led Euphrates Shield deployed to Northern Aleppo dissolved their formation and joined a new militant force known as al-Faylaq al-Thani.

Also on Wednesday, Damascus granted government amnesty to a sum of 59 gunmen who had laid down their weapons and surrendered to the Syrian Army troops in Aleppo province within the framework of the nationwide reconciliation plan, well-informed sources reported.

The sources said that 59 militants that had turned in to the army men and applied for amnesty in Western, Northern and Eastern Aleppo received government pardoning and retuned to normal life within the framework of nationwide peace plan.

Damascus

The Syrian Army stormed again the strongholds of the Al-Nusra Front in Southwestern Damascus, coming closer to the terrorists’ largest bastion in the region, military sources confirmed on Wednesday.

The sources said that the army soldiers clashed fiercely with Al-Nusra terrorists close to Bardaya hill and managed to seize control over the Eastern direction of the hill covering a region from Northeast of Beit Jinn farm up to the Southwest of the village of Kafr Hoor.

A large number of Al-Nusra fighters were killed and their military equipment was destroyed in the attack, they said.

The sources went on to say that the Bardaya hill is of paramount importance and its capture by the army will enable the government forces to access Beit Jinn farm that is one of the largest bastions of Al-Nusra in Western Ghouta.

In the meantime, the Al-Nusra’s missile and artillery units targeted army positions in Tal al-Sha’ar region in Eastern Quneitra to back up their comrades in Beit Jinn and slow down the army’s advances in the region.

Hama

The Syrian Army troops and popular forces stormed the strongholds of Al-Nusra Front in Northeastern Hama and managed to capture another strategic height on Wednesday.

The army men engaged in fierce clashes with Al-Nusra in Northeastern Hama and pushed them back from al-Khazan strategic hill Northeast of the village of Shakhitar.

The Al-Nusra suffered heavy death toll and its military hardware sustained major damage in the attack.