Syria Army Recaptures Key Area in Qalamoun as Operation Enters 4th Day
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Syria’s army, backed by Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement, continued to make gains against the Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra Front) in Damascus countryside and managed to establish full control over a major area in the West Qalamoun mountainous region.
The military source, speaking on the condition anonymity, said that the Syrian and Hezbollah forces stepped up their attack on the Takfiri group in the West Qalamoun on Sunday and succeeded in liberating Jroud Fleiteh and part of Jroud Arsal from the clutches of the terrorists, SANA reported.
He added that the joint military operation of the army and the resistance group ended up with the elimination of more than 70 terrorists as well as the destruction of their hideouts and equipment.
The military source added that the army units will continue their operations as part of their national mission to eradicate terrorism on Syrian soil, adding that the army and its allies also wrested control of a number of hilltops, including Qara, al-Shajara, Taliet al-Burkan, al-Qala’a, Shaabit al-Qala’a on Sunday.
Earlier, Syrian and Hezbollah fighters had managed to liberate Sahl al-Raweh, Sahr al-Haweh, Wadi Dakik, Taftanaz and Wadi Zaarour Baren areas in the Juroud Arsal region.
The Arsal area was hardly hit by the spillover of the Syria crisis in 2014, when militants managed to overrun the town for a brief period. Around 45,000 Syrian refugees, registered with the UN, live in the town, but more are believed to be living in camps in the Juroud area, although their numbers have not been confirmed.
Lebanon has often seen the infiltration of Takfiri elements from neighboring Syria into its territory, where they target the civilian population or security forces with bombings.
Assisting army forces, Hezbollah fighters have so far fended off several attacks by the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) Takfiri terrorist groups. Hezbollah says its mission in Syria is aimed at preventing the spillover of the crisis into Lebanon.
