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Syrian troops down 14 drones operated by militants

Wednesday, 09 November 2016 3:37 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 09 November 2016 7:18 PM ]

Members of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group are seen at an armament school south of Aleppo, Syria, on August 6, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Syrian army soldiers and allied fighters have shot down 14 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated by foreign-backed terrorists in the southwestern province of Dara’a.

An unidentified military source said on Wednesday that the drones intended to carry out reconnaissance missions and target a number of Syrian army positions.

The development came amid latest gains made by the Syrian forces against Takfiri elements operating in the Arab country.

Also on Wednesday, the Syrian army units and allies wrested control of al-Hikma school on the western outskirts of Aleppo.

An unnamed military source said that the advance came after clashes with terrorists, mostly from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front. The fighting inflicted dozens of casualties on the terrorists and destroyed their equipment.

Elsewhere, the Syrian troops foiled an attack on a number of military posts to the east of Hadir on the northern outskirts of Quneitra province. The fighting killed scores of the terrorists and destroyed their vehicles, some of which were equipped with heavy machine guns.

A number of other militants further lost their lives after another Syrian army unit targeted gatherings of militants and their supply routes in the countryside of Quneitra.

Clashes were also reported with Jabhat Fateh al-Sham in Mashara in eastern Quneitra.

Meanwhile, another military source said the Syrian forces had destroyed a Daesh vehicle equipped with a heavy machine gun, a mortar launcher and a bulldozer in al-Tharda Mountain and along the eastern barricade of Dayr al-Zawr Airport.

The airport’s garrison targeted Daesh hideouts with artillery fire in Dayr al-Zawr’s al-Orfi neighborhood, killing nine terrorists and obliterating their arms and munitions.

Since March 2011, Syria has been hit by militancy it blames on some Western states and their regional allies. Backed by Russian air cover, the Syrian military is engaged in an operation to rid the country of Daesh and other terrorist groups.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura have put the death toll from the conflict at more than 300,000 and 400,000, respectively. This is while the UN has stopped its official casualty count in the Arab country, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.

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