Syrian Army, Allies Foil Terrorist Attack in Quneitra
DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – Syrian government forces, supported by allied fighters from popular defense groups, have repelled a surprise attack by members of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, on military posts in the country’s strategic southwestern region of Quneitra near the border with Israeli-controlled Palestinian territories.
Syria’s official news agency, SANA, reported that Syrian troops and their allies had engaged in fierce clashes with Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorists on the outskirts of City of Baath on Saturday afternoon.
The report added that scores of terrorists had been killed or injured during the skirmishes. A number of vehicles belonging to the extremists were destroyed in the process as well.
Meanwhile, a number of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorists managed to flee towards neighboring al-Hamidiyah village.
‘U.S. Not Acting Against Terrorists’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned against the threat of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, as the main source of violence in Syria's Eastern Ghouta region, censuring the U.S. for not taking any serious action against the group.
"Jabhat al-Nusra, which is the main problem in Eastern Ghouta, as I mentioned, is consciously or unconsciously being treated equally with the critics and accusers of the Syrian government. Jabhat al-Nusra is not being touched," Lavrov said during a joint press conference with his Uzbek counterpart Abdulaziz Kamilov in Moscow.
"We still do not have evidence that the coalition led by the United States is viewing Jabhat al-Nusra as a real target. Of course, we draw the attention of our American colleagues to it, but we do not see any effect from our comments,” he added.
Eastern Ghouta near Damascus has witnessed renewed violence in the past few days, with terrorists mounting repeated mortar attacks on the Syrian capital in the face of an imminent rout.
The top Russian diplomat pointed to the latest ceasefire proposal for Eastern Ghouta at the UN Security Council and argued that the initiative fails to provide any guarantee that militants will stop the ongoing violence.
The 30-day ceasefire plan, drafted by Sweden and Kuwait, is aimed at allowing deliveries of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations.
Sweden and Kuwait, two non-permanent members of the Security Council, proposed a month-long truce in Syria to allow deliveries of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations.
Moscow has proposed amendments to the draft resolution to include guarantees that the anti-Damascus militants would honor the ceasefire.
After hours of negotiations, Kuwait's UN Ambassador Mansour Ayyad al-Otaibi announced on Friday that the UNSC had delayed a vote on the truce to 1700 GMT Saturday.
Rescuers in Eastern Ghouta said the bombing would not let up long enough for them to count the bodies, in one of the bloodiest air assaults of the seven-year war.
Warplanes pounded the enclave on Saturday, the seventh day in a row of a fierce escalation, an emergency service, a witness and a monitoring group said.
Residents holed up in basements and medical charities decried attacks on a dozen hospitals, as the United Nations pleaded for a truce in Ghouta, the only big terrorist bastion near the capital.
This photo taken on February 9, 2018, in the countryside of Idlib shows Syrian government forces during a major offensive against foreign-sponsored terrorists.
Syria’s official news agency, SANA, reported that Syrian troops and their allies had engaged in fierce clashes with Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorists on the outskirts of City of Baath on Saturday afternoon.
The report added that scores of terrorists had been killed or injured during the skirmishes. A number of vehicles belonging to the extremists were destroyed in the process as well.
Meanwhile, a number of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorists managed to flee towards neighboring al-Hamidiyah village.
‘U.S. Not Acting Against Terrorists’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned against the threat of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, as the main source of violence in Syria's Eastern Ghouta region, censuring the U.S. for not taking any serious action against the group.
"Jabhat al-Nusra, which is the main problem in Eastern Ghouta, as I mentioned, is consciously or unconsciously being treated equally with the critics and accusers of the Syrian government. Jabhat al-Nusra is not being touched," Lavrov said during a joint press conference with his Uzbek counterpart Abdulaziz Kamilov in Moscow.
"We still do not have evidence that the coalition led by the United States is viewing Jabhat al-Nusra as a real target. Of course, we draw the attention of our American colleagues to it, but we do not see any effect from our comments,” he added.
Eastern Ghouta near Damascus has witnessed renewed violence in the past few days, with terrorists mounting repeated mortar attacks on the Syrian capital in the face of an imminent rout.
The top Russian diplomat pointed to the latest ceasefire proposal for Eastern Ghouta at the UN Security Council and argued that the initiative fails to provide any guarantee that militants will stop the ongoing violence.
The 30-day ceasefire plan, drafted by Sweden and Kuwait, is aimed at allowing deliveries of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations.
Sweden and Kuwait, two non-permanent members of the Security Council, proposed a month-long truce in Syria to allow deliveries of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations.
Moscow has proposed amendments to the draft resolution to include guarantees that the anti-Damascus militants would honor the ceasefire.
After hours of negotiations, Kuwait's UN Ambassador Mansour Ayyad al-Otaibi announced on Friday that the UNSC had delayed a vote on the truce to 1700 GMT Saturday.
Rescuers in Eastern Ghouta said the bombing would not let up long enough for them to count the bodies, in one of the bloodiest air assaults of the seven-year war.
Warplanes pounded the enclave on Saturday, the seventh day in a row of a fierce escalation, an emergency service, a witness and a monitoring group said.
Residents holed up in basements and medical charities decried attacks on a dozen hospitals, as the United Nations pleaded for a truce in Ghouta, the only big terrorist bastion near the capital.
This photo taken on February 9, 2018, in the countryside of Idlib shows Syrian government forces during a major offensive against foreign-sponsored terrorists.