Syrian Army Makes Sweeping Advances in South

Date: 16 July 2018 - 22:07

News ID: ۵۵۱۹۲

DAMASCUS (Dispatches) -- Syrian government forces made sweeping advances Monday against terrorists holding out in the country's south, a monitor and state media said.
Syria's government has been battling to oust foreing-backed from the strategic southwestern provinces of Dara’a and Qunaitra since June 19, with a mix of heavy bombardment, ground attacks and negotiated surrenders.
Syrian troops now hold more than 80% of Dara’a province but scored fresh gains Monday against remaining terrorists in its western countryside and in neighboring Qunaitra.
Qunaitra also borders the Golan Heights, occupied by the Zionist regime of Israel, which has been on high alert since army operations ramped up in the south nearly a month ago.
The so-alled Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday that government units and allied fighters had made a "quick advance" against terrorists in the western part of Dara’a.
"Syrian government forces captured the town of Al-Hara, as well as Samlin, Al-Tiha and Zimrin," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel-Rahman.
He said government forces had ousted terrorists from Al-Tiha in a military advance, while militants in Al-Hara had agreed a surrender deal. Militants in a nearby town, Nawa, were in talks for a similar agreement, he added.
Under such agreements, militants hand over territory as well as their heavy and medium weapons to government troops in exchange for a halt to bombing.
But militants holding a hilltop adjacent to Al-Hara refused to agree to a handover, said the Observatory.
The government responded by heavily bombing the hilltop, killing 30 terrorists from Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the monitor added.
The Syrian army then took control of the strategic hill that overlooks the occupied Golan Heights, state television said.
It said the army had taken control of Al-Hara hill in the second day of an offensive to seize remaining parts of southwest Syria.
The hilltop, which had a major anti-aircraft radar base that was part of elaborate Syrian army defenses against the occupying regime of Israel, fell into terrorist hands in October 2014.
Citing a military source, Syrian state news agency SANA also said the army had captured a string of villages including Al-Tiha and Zimrin.
Syrian airstrikes also pounded Qunaitra province for a second day on Monday, the Observatory said.
Syrian state media also said Israeli rockets had struck a Syrian military position near Nairab airport on the outskirts of the city of Aleppo.
"The Zionist enemy...targets one of our military sites north of Nairab airport," SANA said, quoting a military source.
It said the strikes were an attempt by the occupying regime to support terrorists in southern Syria. State media said the strikes caused only "material damage".
The occupying regime has struck dozens of army positions in Syria over the course of the seven-year conflict, in what is seen as a bid to prop up terrorists.