Syrian army, allies make new advances against terrorists across country

Syrian government forces, backed by allied fighters from popular defense groups, have made fresh territorial gains against foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorists across the conflict-plagued Arab country.

Syria’s official news agency, SANA, reported on Monday that Syrian troops and their allies had established full control over the village of Shakhaiter, located 82 kilometers northeast of the west-central city of Hama.

Scores of terrorists from the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, were killed and injured during the operation.

The report added that a large of number of the Takfiris have fled the village to neighboring areas.

Syrian army bomb disposal units are now combing Shakhaiter for hidden improvised explosive devices and landmines.

Separately, Syrian army units and their allied forces reclaimed two districts on the outskirts of Kafr Hawr village, situated 35 kilometers (22 miles) southwest of the capital, Damascus. They also liberated al-Kashmeh village from the clutches of Takfiri terrorists.

Government troops also engaged al-Rahman Legion Takfiri terrorists in Harasta city, situated roughly 8 kilometers northeast of Damascus, killing five of them. A militant commander was reportedly among the slain extremists.

Additionally, several people sustained injuries when a barrage of mortar shells fired by foreign-backed terrorists slammed into a residential neighborhood in Syria’s southwestern city of Quneitra.

A civilian also lost life in Damascus when a militant mortar shell fell on his house.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc in the country.