Syrian army soldiers, allies gain more ground in battles against Daesh

Syrian army soldiers are seen in Fleita, Syria, on August 2, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

Syrian government forces, backed by allied fighters from popular defense groups, have made fresh advances against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group across the war-ravaged Arab country.

Syria’s official news agency, SANA, reported on Tuesday that a large number of Daesh Takfiris were killed and injured when Syrian army units and their allies engaged in heavy clashes with them in Jani Elelbawi village of the western-central province of Hama late last night.

Syrian army troops and their allies also established complete control over the strategic al-Mahsa Hill near the village, killing and injuring scores of Takfiris.

Government forces and volunteer fighters then combed the area for hidden ordinance and improvised explosive devices, which Daesh militants had planted there.

They also discovered a network of underground tunnels, which the terrorists had dug to carry munitions, transfer reinforcements to the region and to flee in the wake of Syrian Air Force bombardments.

Elsewhere in the troubled eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr, Syrian and Russian fighter jets bombarded Daesh positions around Alloush Hill and inside Wadi al-Thardah Valley.

A military source, requesting anonymity, said at least 15 terrorists were killed and several others wounded in the airstrikes. Several vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns were destroyed as well.

The developments came just a day after Syrian soldiers and allied fighters from popular defense groups regained full control over Hamimiyah village in the western province of Homs.

New US-led air raids kill 78 Syrian civilians

Meanwhile, dozens of civilians have lost their lives over the past 24 hours as the US-led coalition purportedly fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group conducted a series of aerial assaults in Syria’s militant-held northern city of Raqqah.

Local sources told SANA that 78 people were killed and tens of others wounded when US-led jets targeted al-Sakhani and al-Badou alleyways as well as al-Tausiyah neighborhood in the city, located about 455 kilometers (283 miles) northeast of the capital Damascus.

The US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be Daesh targets inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate. 

Smoke rises after an airstrike during fighting between members of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces and Daesh Takfiri militants in Raqqah, Syria, on August 20, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

The military alliance has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians. It has also been largely incapable of fulfilling its declared aim of destroying Daesh.

The city of Raqqah, which lies on the northern bank of the Euphrates River, was overrun by Daesh terrorists in March 2013, and was proclaimed the center for most of the Takfiris’ administrative and control tasks the following year. 

It is estimated that some 300,000 civilians are trapped inside Raqqah, including 80,000 displaced from other parts of Syria. Thousands have fled in recent months, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs believes about 160,000 people remain in the city.

On June 6, the US-backed militiamen from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they had launched an operation aimed at pushing Daesh out of Raqqah.