Local forces in Syria backed by popular defense forces have killed more than 100 al-Qaeda linked terrorists during a series of violent clashes in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, a report says.
The Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen satellite channel said in a report on Saturday that the militants were killed after local forces repelled fresh attacks by the al-Nusra Front terrorist group in the al-Fo’aa and Kefraya villages in Idlib.
This came after militants mounted new attacks by targeting the residential areas of the besieged villages and tried to penetrate a defensive line by using explosive-laden vehicles and rocket launchers.
Sources said a number of militants from Uzbekistan and Chechnya were among those killed in the fierce fighting.
Both villages fell under a siege by al-Nusra Front terrorists more than five months ago. Dozens of civilians have been killed and hundreds injured in the villages since then.
The humanitarian bodies in the country have been discussing ways with the International Committee of the Red Cross to save the besieged civilians as terrorists are preventing any kind of aid from entering there.
Syrian army soldiers have killed a large number of foreign-backed militants and have launched an operation in the country’s western province of Latakia.
A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 80 militants were killed and seven vehicles destroyed as Syrian troopers raided a gathering of Takfiri militants at an air base near Latakia, located 348 kilometers (216 miles) northwest of the capital, Damascus, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported.
Syrian soldiers also destroyed three vehicles that had heavy machine guns mounted on them during an offensive in Dara’a al-Balad area of the southwestern Syrian city of Dara’a, located about 114 kilometers (70 miles) south of the capital.
Sources say Syrian government forces have inflicted heavy losses during the ongoing operation against foreign-backed militants across the northern Aleppo Province and the southern Daraa and Sweida provinces.
The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has claimed more than 240,000 lives up until now, according to reports.