Syrian Army Makes Major Advances in Idlib Countryside

The Syrian army made advances in a strategic region of Idlib countryside in Northwestern Syria.
The army units pushed the militants back from Ma’ar Belit farms in areas in the vicinity of Idlib.

The Syrian army also targeted a gathering center of the militants in Kafr Takharim town and killed 30 militants in heavy clashes in the Western parts of Ma’arat Al-Naman.

Also in the past 24 hours, the Al-Nusra Front kidnapped several members of their rival Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Hasaka province in Northern Syria.

Al-Nusra Front kidnapped 8 ISIL militants in Al-Shadadi town in Hasaka province.

Meantime, the Syrian army conducted a series of military operations around Abu Al-Zahour military airport in Idlib countryside.

The army units targeted and destroyed several gathering centers of militants in Al-Majas village and Southern parts of Abu Al-Zahour town near Abu Al-Zahour military airport.

Elsewhere in Homs city, an agreement on securing the evacuation of civilians stranded in the Syrian city and the delivery of aid has been secured.

The UN, although not party to the deal, welcomed the agreement between the government of Bashar al-Assad and the rebels, and is standing by with aid.

UN Spokesman Farhan Haq gave a statement that “the United Nations and humanitarian partners had pre-positioned food, medical and other basic supplies on the outskirts of Homs ready for immediate delivery as soon as the green light was given by the parties for safe passage”.

These are seen as welcome developments after the stalemate that took hold earlier in the week at the International Geneva II Peace Talks.

Also, the Syrian troops repelled rebels’ attack against the central prison of the country’s Northern Province of Aleppo.

The army killed a large number of attackers and destroyed their weapons and ammunition, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported on Thursday, spelling no further details.

Meantime, hundreds of Syrian and Ukrainian citizens gathered outside the Saudi embassy in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital city, to show support for the Syrian leadership, army and people.

The protestors lashed out at the extremist policies of the Saudi regime and its support for terrorism in Syria, urging the al Saud regime to halt all kinds of financial and media support for terrorists and to stop sending terrorists to Syria, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported on Thursday.

Waving Syrian, Ukrainian and Russian flags and chanting slogans in solidarity with Syria, the protestors called on the Saudi regime to stop meddling in the Syrian and Ukrainian internal affairs, affirming that Saudi Arabia and the al Saud regime do not represent Islam and its noble values.

Members of the Syrian community in Ukraine, Ukrainian citizens and representatives of several Ukrainian political parties and organizations took part in the protest.

Elsewhere, thousands of Syrians have returned home in Southwestern Syria, after a ceasefire deal between the government and foreign-backed opposition.

Residents of the town of Muadamiyat al-Sham, located in Damascus countryside, came back to the area after foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants withdrew from the area as agreed in the ceasefire deal.

On February 5, Syria’s Committee of National Reconciliation said more than 1,200 Syrian families had returned home in the south of the country following a truce brokered by the committee.

Many hope for similar truce deals aimed at ending the fierce fighting between the Syrian army and Takfiri militants in other parts of the crisis-torn country.

The first step of the deal was the ceasefire, followed by militants’ withdrawal from Muadamiyat al-Sham after surrendering their weapons. Later, the Syrian government is to release some detainees.