Syrian army inflicts heavy losses on militants

The Syrian army has inflicted heavy losses on foreign-backed militants fighting against the government in several parts of the country.

According to Syria’s official news agency, SANA, government forces clashed with militants in Aleppo, Homs, Idlib, Dara’a, Latakia and Damascus countryside on Friday.

Scores of militants, among them a commander from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, were killed and more than ten hideouts used by them were destroyed during the military operations.

The al-Nusra Front commander was identified as Mo’taz Ahmad. The Syrian army said he was killed during clashes near the southern city of Dara’a. No further details are available about his death.

Members of al-Nusra group, which is on the international terrorist organizations list, have been fighting against Syrian troops since the beginning of the unrest in the Arab country. The terrorist group is believed to have links with Saudi intelligence and the Israeli regime.

Al-Nusra Front has claimed responsibility for many of the bombings and attacks inside Syria.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the insurgents are foreign nationals.

Several international human rights organizations have accused foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes.