Syrian Army determined to retake the control of southern territories

Tabnak – After failing to reach an agreement with the armed groups in the southern parts of Syria, the Syrian government on Friday launched a military operation to retake the control of those areas. Meanwhile, the northwestern city of Idlib is experiencing a new wave of terrorist activities.

According to the local media, Syrian government's artillery and missile units launched very heavy attacks on terrorists' strongholds in Northeastern Dara'a to introduce the preliminary phase of a major operation in the Southern part of the country.

Using a variety of artillery shells and surface-to-surface missiles, the army unleashed a relentless assault on Thursday night that targeted the positions of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in al-Lajah region. The army could score several direct hits against the terrorists, resulting in a series of powerful explosions that could be heard from a long distance away.

According to a military source at the government stronghold of Izra’a, the army launched more than 30 missiles towards the terrorist-held towns of Busra Al-Sham, Busra Al-Harir, and Al-Karak.

At the same time, the Syrian Army has dispatched a long convoy of vehicles to a military airport in Northern Sweida, a field source reported on Friday. The source said that the army sent a long convoy, including elite force and tens of military vehicles to Khalkhala base in Northern Sweida.

The source further said that the airbase is located at contact line with terrorists' positions in Eastern Dara'a, including those in al-Lajah, adding that the army is possibly planning to use the airbase as its Command Center for military operations in Eastern Dara'a.

The source went on to say that the army has been forwarding a large number of soldiers and a large volume of military hardware to Western and Northwestern Sweida.

The operation to clean up the southern parts of Syria from the rebel and terrorist groups comes after several failed attempts by the Syrian government to reach a compromise with those groups so that they evacuate the southern provinces. Damascus had earlier announced that in case those efforts would not bring success, it would resort to the military option to retake those territories.

Meanwhile in Idlib, at least five civilians were killed and dozens more injured by a twin bomb attack that rocked the city, local sources reported. A car-bomb exploded near the city’s Western entrance, Anadolu quoted the sources as saying. Shortly afterwards, a bomb-laden motorcycle exploded in the same area.

Thirty-five people were injured in the blast, many of them seriously, while a number of nearby buildings were severely damaged, he added. There has as yet been no claim of responsibility for the deadly attack.