News / Syria

Syria army enters militant-held town in Dara'a

Wednesday, 30 December 2015 1:42 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 30 December 2015 4:02 PM ]

Syrian army soldiers patrol near a building in the countryside of Deir Hafer, a former bastion of Daesh terror group, near the city of Aleppo, northwestern Syria, December 2, 2015. (AFP photo)

The Syrian army has managed to move inside the town of Sheikh Maskin, which was controlled by foreign- backed militants, in the southern province of Dara’a.

The military said in a Wednesday statement that troops were in the town’s main square, capturing its eastern and northern neighborhoods.

Sheikh Maskin is located on a major supply route from the Syrian capital of Damascus to the city of Dara’a.

Syria’s official SANA news agency, meanwhile, said terrorists have started to move their operations’ center from the town to the city of Nawa, adding that the militants are also fleeing Sheikh Maskin after a number of their leaders were killed in the army’s operation.

Terror groups have confirmed the killing of at least 11 of their members, including four of their commanders, in Sheikh Maskin.

Separately, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least ten Takfiri militants, including a top leader of the al-Nusra Front, were killed by the Syrian army near Dara’a.

Foreign-backed militants dig and fill sandbags to make barricades from behind a sniper curtain in the city of Dara’a, southern Syria, on November 11, 2015. (AFP photo)

The new advances came a day after army units succeeded in gaining control over Tal al-Hash and the 82nd brigade camp in the vicinity of Sheikh Maskin.

Syria’s drive against militants across the Arab country saw a major boost since Damascus began to have the Russian air cover on September 30.

The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people and left over one million injured, according to the United Nations.

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