Syrian Arab army launches series of operations, seizes LAU- rockets
PROVINCES,(ST)_A wide-scale operation has been launched in the flashpoint Htetet al-Terkman town in the eastern Ghouta outside Damascus amid reports of confiscating Israeli-made LAU-rockets in Daraa province.
On Thursday, units of the armed forces started a wide-scale operation in Htetet al-Terkman town in order to complete imposing control over the strategic Shebaa town which links eastern and western Ghouta, media reports said.
Around 10 days ago, it was officially declared that the armed forces tightened control on Shebaa town, just 1.5km to the north-west of Htetet al-Terkman town .
The eastern Ghouta operation
The armed forces are carrying out operations in a 300km-area stretching from the 5th bridge on Damascus International Airport motorway to towns of Der Salman, al-Qasemeyeh and al-Bahhareyeh.
They shelled today several hideouts of terrorists in farms of Htetet al-Terkman and Shebaa as well as on alQasemeyeh-alDelbeh road where many terrorists were crushed, according to an official source.
The source added that 6 terrorists were killed near the junction of al-Rehan town and to the west of al-Shefoneyeh town in Doma area.
More terrorists were eliminated in areas of Barzeh, al-Qabon, Darayya, al-Moaddameyeh, Rankos, and Zabadani’s eastern mountains.
Israeli-made rockets
In another development, a military source said that an army unit seized in Mhajeh town in southern Daraa province a car loaded with weapons and munitions including four Israeli-made LAU rockets and 36 mortar shells (60mm).
It noted that many hideouts were pounded in towns of Nawa, Inkhel, al-Na’emeh, Ataman, Edwan, al-Za’arora, Ein al-Basha, al-Hairan, and Ghader al-Bestan.
“An army unit cracked down on an armed terrorist group trying to attack the old customs checkpoint and mowed down most of the group’s members,” the military source said, announcing names of 4 terrorists killed there.
Homs’ al-Qosor quarter
Other terrorists, mostly affiliated to al-Nusra Front, were eliminated in 21 areas in northern Aleppo province and in 11 areas in central Homs province and in 2 areas (al-Sekhneh and al-Tebeh) outside Palmyra as well as in 3 areas (Kafr Lata, Ma’arblit and Bzabour) outside Idlib province.
Several media reports confirmed that the armed forces are stepping forwards in al-Qosor quarter in Homs city.
Army advances in Erfi quarter
While in Der Ezzour province, north-east of the country, it was officially declared that the armed forces advanced in al-Erfi quarter and thwarted an armed terrorist group’s attempt to infiltrate into al-Mowazzafin quarter.
A military source made it clear that the armed forces took control of further buildings in al-Erfi quarter in the wake of eliminating the terrorists sheltering there.
“Well over 10 terrorists perished there”, the source said , adding that more terrorists died when the armed forces destroyed hideouts in quarters of al-Hweqa and al-Ommal [slang means workers]and near the garage.
It noted that the clash, between an army unit and an armed terrorist group to the east of Askar Club in al-Erfi quarter, ended in mowing down 8 terrorists and injuring several others.
ISIL’s ringleader wounded
Elsewhere, the armed forces raided hideouts of terrorists and weapons-laden vehicles in towns of al-Soda and al-Teffaheyeh in the northern Lattakia countryside where 12 identified terrorists, some of Saudi and Kuwaiti nationalities, were killed.
An official source confirmed that four of Abo Hamzeh al-Saudi’s bodyguards were among the dead.
Abo Hamzeh al-Saudi, a ringleader in the so-called ‘Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL), was reportedly wounded and whisked to the Turkish territories.
B.Q