Daesh executes 40 civilians in northern Syrian town: Report

The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group has reportedly executed more than three dozen civilians in Syria’s strategic northern province of Aleppo as they continue to lose ground in battles against government forces.

The media bureau of Syria’s Joint Operations Command announced in a statement on Saturday that Daesh extremists had rounded up 40 civilians in the town of al-Bab, located some 40 kilometers northeast of Aleppo, and then killed them all.

The killings came as fierce clashes continue unabated between Turkish-backed militants and Daesh Takfiris on the fringes of al-Bab.

Turkish artillery units also lobbed a barrage of projectiles at Daesh outposts inside and outside of the border town.

On August 24, 2016, the Turkish Air Force and special ground forces kicked off Operation Euphrates Shield inside Syria in a declared bid to support the Free Syrian Army militants and rid the border area of Daesh terrorists and fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD).

The offensive was launched in coordination with the US-led military coalition, which has purportedly been fighting Daesh extremists since 2014.

The incursion was the first major Turkish military intervention in Syria, which drew strong condemnation from the Syrian government for violating the Arab country's sovereignty.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on November 29, 2016 that the Turkish army had marched into Syria to end the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, whom he accused of terrorism and causing the deaths of thousands.

The remarks caused consternation in the Kremlin, with Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, demanding that Erdogan clarify anti-Assad goals in Syria.

The Turkish leader backtracked on the comments two days later, asserting that the offensives there were aimed only at terrorists.

Late on Friday, Syrian army forces managed to retake Abu Taltal village near the town of al-Bab after heavy skirmishes with foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants there.

Syrian soldiers and allied forces launched an operation against Daesh positions near al-Tharda region of the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr on Saturday, killing scores of the terrorists in the process.

Syrian Air Force fighter jets also carried out a string of strikes against Daesh terrorists in the al-Makabbat area of the same Syrian province, killing six terrorists and injuring another seven. A motorcycle belonging to the terrorists was destroyed in the aerial attacks as well.

Additionally, Syrian aircraft targeted Daesh gatherings in the al- Hamidiyah district of Dayr al-Zawr city, situated about 420 kilometers northeast of the capital Damascus, and the outskirts of a military airport, killing and injuring many of the terrorists and destroying vehicles equipped with heavy machineguns.

Syrian troopers and fighters from pro-government popular defense groups also thwarted separate infiltration attempts by Daesh from al-Hweiqa and al-Husseiniya villages into Dayr al-Zawr city, killing most of the terrorists.

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