Syrian army kills 188 terrorists in Der Ezzour and eastern Ghouta of Damascus, as Russian warplanes bomb 9 ISIS sites
PROVINCES,(ST)_Over 188 terrorists killed by Syrian army units in Der Ezzour and in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, as Russian airstrikes destroyed ISIS arms depots and training camp in Idleb countryside.
According to field sources, an army unit clashed with terrorists attacked a military post in Der Ezzour a day after army units warded off ISIS terrorists’ infiltration bids into the al-Tayem oil field and Der Ezzour airbase.
Over 163 terrorists were killed in the confrontations, the sources said, adding that an armored car belonging to ISIS terrorists was destroyed before reaching a military post in the oil field.
There were also clashes between army units and ISIS terrorists on the outskirts of al-Rosafeh, al-Rashedeyeh, al-Ommal and al-Sena’a quarters in Der Ezzour city.
The clashes ended with inflicting heavy losses on terrorists, according to the official news agency (SANA).
The agency added that army units killed over 25 terrorists from al-Nusra` Front and the so-called the ‘Jaish al-Islam’ [Islam Army] in the eastern Ghouta of Damascus.
It indicated that Syrian warplanes bombed today morning terrorist organizations` in Ghadir Abo Sharshoh town on the eastern edge of Sweida Badia.
The air strikes coincided with qualitative operations carried out by army units in Inkhel town in Daraa countryside where many terrorists were killed and injured.
A military source said that more terrorists were killed when an army unit targeted a vehicle belonging to terrorists west of Namer town, about 22km north-east of Daraa city.
Further terrorists were eliminated in Daraa al-Balad and in several areas in Homs countryside and in Aleppo province.
Russian airstrikes reduce terrorists’ combat capabilities
In another development, RT reported that Russian air forces conducted more than 60 sorties and bombed 50 ISIS targets in Syria in 3 days, significantly reducing the terrorists’ combat capabilities.
“The airstrikes were being conducted night and day from the Khmeimim airbase and throughout the whole of Syria. In three days we managed to undermine the terrorists’ material-technical base and significantly reduce their combat potential,” Lieutenant General Andrey Kartapolov, head of the Main Operation Directorate of the General Staff of Russia’s armed forces, told reporters on Saturday.
600 mercenaries left their positions
He added that according to Russian intelligence the militants are fleeing the area that was in their control.
“There is panic and defection among them. About 600 mercenaries have left their positions and are trying to reach Europe,” he said.
Washington has notified the Russian Defense Ministry that there were only militants in the areas of Russia’s military operation against IS in Syria, he added. “The Americans informed us during contacts that there was no one except terrorists in this region,” he said.
“Over the past 24 hours, Sukhoi Su-34 and Su-24M fighter jets have performed 20 sorties and hit nine Islamic State installations,” Igor Konashenkov, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman, reported.
Konashenkov added that yesterday evening Russian aircraft went on six sorties, inflicting strikes on three terrorist installations.
“A bunker-busting BETAB-500 air bomb dropped from a Sukhoi Su-34 bomber near Raqqa has eliminated the command post of one of the terror groups, together with an underground storage facility for explosives and munitions,” the spokesman said.
Basma Qaddour