Syria in Past 24 Hours: Army Preparing to Lift ISIL’s Siege on Deir Ezzur Airbase

Deir Ezzur

Deir Ezzur Governor General Mohammad Ibrahim Samra said that the army will start another operation to lift ISIL’s siege of Deir Ezzur’s airbase in the coming hours.

“In the coming hours, the advancing units of the Syrian army will start fresh operation to break ISIL’s siege of Deir Ezzur’s military airfield, as well as the civilian quarters of Harabush, Jafrah and al-Sina’ah,” Samra said.

“The coalition has played a negative role in the clashes in our region. It has destroyed a lot of our buildings, schools, bridges, universities, power stations and other important objects in the province. All this actions supported the terrorists. Yesterday, the coalition opened fire on civilians. A lot of people died in the regions of al Salehiyeh, al Mayadeen and Albu Kamal,” Samra said.

Samra went on to say that the airstrikes by the Russian and Syrian fighter jets have destroyed a lot of ISIL’s strongholds including those in the regions of al-Baqaliyeh, al-Ayyash, Ein Abu Juma, al Tabna, Mount Thardah and al Tih.

Also in the past 24 hours, ISIL suffered heavy casualties and its military hardware sustained major damage in the Syrian Army troops’ operation that lifted terrorists’ siege on Deir Ezzur city, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that 12 armored vehicles, including four tanks, six artillery and mortar firing positions, a command post and a communication center as well as three ammo depots were destroyed, and more than 200 terrorists were killed during the Deir Ezzur operation.

Also, local sources confirmed on Wednesday that the US-led coalition fighter jets carried out more combat flights over the ISIL-held Raqqa city, killing over 10 civilians, including children and women,.

The sources said that a sum of 12 civilians, including 2 children and 4 women were killed and several more were wounded in the warplanes’ attack on residential areas in Raqqa city.

Several missing cases have also been reported following the raid, they added.

Media reports also said on Wednesday that military helicopters of the US-led coalition carried out another heliborne operation in Southeastern Deir Ezzur to evacuate a senior financial director of the ISIL terrorist group from the region.

The Arabic-language al-Ahd news website reported that two military helicopters of the coalition carried out a heliborne operation in Kab al-Mala region near the village of Bu Leil in the Southeastern part of Deir Ezzur province, taking away a senior commander in charge of running the financial affairs of al-Tayem oilfield for ISIL from the region along with his assets.

Al-Ahd added that families of 4 non-Syrian ISIL members were also taken away from the region in the heliborne operation.

Also in the past 24 hours, a Russian media outlet reported that  the Syrian Army is utilizing AMR-2 M equipment mounted on T-72 tanks in its Deir Ezzur operation,.

The Arabic-language website of Russia’s state news agency, Sputnik, reported that AMR-2 M Machinery, used by engineering units, can be mounted on Russia-made T-72 tanks, adding that the equipment was used in the Syrian Army troops’ operation to destroy or push away barriers planted by ISIL terrorists in front of the pro-government forces in the Western outskirt of Deir Ezzur.

The tanks that carry equipment can travel at the speed of 60km/h, the report said, adding that the AMR-2 M Machinery enjoys one PKT 7.62mm machinegun and two operators.

Hama

The Syrian Army troops repelled a heavy attack of Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay’at or the Levant Liberation Board) on several positions of the pro-government forces in Southeastern Hama on Wednesday, inflicting heavy casualties on the terrorists.

The army soldiers engaged in fierce clashes with Al-Nusra terrorists and fended off their attack on the Syrian government forces’ positions in al-Satahiyat region, killing and wounding a number of militants.

Also on Wednesday, the Syrian Army troops continued to hit ISIL terrorists’ defense lines hard in Eastern Hama and imposed control over several villages.

The army units engaged in fierce clashes with ISIL in remaining regions that are still under the control of the terrorists in Eastern Hama and seized control over the villages of Abu Ramal, al-Marami, Mas’oud and al-Tobileh.

ISIL suffered heavy casualties in the operation.

Idlib

Syria’s military aircraft dropped thousands of leaflets over terrorist-held regions in Northern Idlib on Wednesday, urging the militants to lay down arms and surrender themselves to the government troops.

The military helicopters dropped thousands of leaflets over Ma’arat Mesrin region in Northern Idlib, calling on militants to lay down their weapons and return to normal life.

The army also announced in the leaflet that it will continue the battle to drive all the terrorists out of the country.

Also in the past 24 hours, nine terrorists of Al-Nusra Front were killed and several more were wounded in a large blast in the Northwestern city of Idlib, news websites affiliated to the terrorist groups reported.

The websites reported that nine Al-Nusra members were killed and several more were wounded in a huge explosion near the Municipality Sports Stadium in the militant-held city of Idlib.

In the meantime, Al-Nusra announced that a number of its forces have been injured in the explosion of vehicles carrying ammunitions.