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 Syria in Last 24 Hours: Army Makes New Gains in Aleppo Countryside

The Syrian army continued its mop-up operations in Eastern Aleppo by purging terrorists from key villages and regions.

The army units also took back the villages of al-Qawas and al-Hamra and paved their way towards Deir Hafer region in the Eastern part of Aleppo.

The army then focused on advancing towards other regions in Eastern Aleppo.

The Syrian troops killed tens of terrorists and injured dozens more in fierce clashes over controlling of strategic regions. They also destroyed military equipment of the terrorists.

The Syrian army also continued its advances in other key provinces across Syria.

Aleppo

The Syrian Army troops continued to push ISIL back from vast territories in Eastern Aleppo, and captured two more strategic villages in the region.

The army soldiers engaged in tough battle with ISIL in Eastern Aleppo and managed to drive them out of the villages of al-Qawas and al-Hamra.

Field sources reported that the army men are still on the march in the area.

Earlier reports said that the army troops continued their anti-terrorism operation in Eastern Aleppo, kicking off a cleansing operation in over 10 newly-liberated towns and villages to restore sustainable security to the region and push towards last main ISIL stronghold in the province.

The army advanced towards the ISIL’s stronghold in the town of Maskana, liberating several towns and villages in the Eastern territories of the Aleppo province, paving the way for their first advance into the Northern part of the Maskana Plain.

According to reports, the pro-government forces halted their military operations in order to secure the territory they captured from the Takfiri terrorists.

A military source said that the army units are about to kick off a fresh round of operations in coming days to deploy on the suburbs of the town of Maskana.

Damascus

Two notorious commanders of Tahrir al-Sham Hay’at (the Levant Liberation Board) have been killed in fierce clashes with rival terrorists from the Jeish al-Islam group in Eastern Ghouta.

Tahrir al-Sham Hay’at and Faylaq al-Rahman engaged in fierce clashes with Jeish al-Islam in Hawsh al-Asha’ari farmland in Eastern Ghouta.

The clashes have inflicted a number of casualties on both sides, outlets close to the militant groups said on Friday.

Abu Salem and Abu Wasim al-Kanani, two field commanders of Tahrir al-Sham, were killed in the clashes.

Media sources close to Jeish al-Islam also reported that two field commanders of Tahrir al-Sham were killed by snipers in Eastern Ghouta.

Raqqa

The predominately Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continued the fourth phase of the anti-ISIL Euphrates Rage Operation in Raqqa and managed to capture three more villages, closing off the last supply line of the terrorists to the ISIL-held city of Raqqa in Northeastern Syria.

The SDF engaged in fierce clashes with the ISIL East of Raqqa city and managed to seize control over the villages of Hamra Qanam, Hamra Ablu Yatiyeh and Madar.

Field sources confirmed that the last supply line of ISIL terrorists to Raqqa city was cut off after the SDF took control over the village of Hamra Qanam.

The ISIL lost a number of forces in the SDF advances.

Homs

The Syrian Army troops continued their advances against ISIL and drove them out of more positions South of the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur), inflicting major casualties on the terrorists.

The army units engaged in fierce clashes with the ISIL South of Palmyra towards al-Sawaneh region and managed to recapture more lands South of Mount al-Abtar.

Early battlefield reports show that the ISIL lost a number of fighters in the attack.

Arab media outlets reported earlier on Friday that the Syrian Army troops, backed up by the Special Forces, managed to drive ISIL out of more territories in Syrian Badiyeh (desert), inflicting major losses on the terrorists.

Hama

A source in Salamiyah city’s National Hospital said that 51 people were killed and 100 more were wounded in ISIL’s attack in a village in Hama.

“Fifty-one dead and over 100 wounded, these are the final numbers regarding the victims of the ISIL’s attack on Aqareb al-Safi village,” the source told Sputnik.

Aqareb al-Safi is situated in a strategically important geographical position due to its location near the M5 North-South motorway linking Aleppo to other Syrian provinces.

The Syrian army along with it popular allies have been fighting against numerous terrorist groups, including the ISIL, within a civil war that has lasted for more than six years.

Mattis Outlines New Strategy To Fight ISIS

US changes tactics against ISIS, working on plan with ‘enthusiastic’ Russians

https://www.rt.com/usa/389015-pentagon-syria-russians-isis/

The Trump administration is giving more leeway to field commanders and focusing on annihilating Islamic State forces, top US officials said. A proposal is also in the works to “deconflict” operations in Syria with Russia. US forces are legally precluded from coordinating with the Russians, General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon on Friday. However, the US and Russian militaries have been maintaining multiple communication channels to “deconflict” operations in Syria. “We have a proposal that we’re working on with the Russians right now,” Dunford added, declining to offer any details. He did say that it would address the presence of a Syrian government pocket in Deir ez-Zor, halfway down the Euphrates River between the IS (formerly ISIS/ISIL) stronghold of Raqqa and the Iraqi border. “The Russians are as enthusiastic as we are to deconflict operations” and focus on fighting IS, Dunford said.

The comments came after Moscow condemned the US airstrike against a government-allied force near the Jordanian border as “illegitimate and unlawful.” Advisers with the Pentagon-backed Maghawir Al-Thawra militia group in the town of Tanf called in the strike. Defense Secretary James Mattis described the targeted fighters as Iran-backed, rather than backed by the Syrian government, and called the airstrike “self-defense of our forces.” “It was necessitated by offensive movement, of what we believe were Iranian-directed forces,” Mattis said, that acted “against the advice of the Russians.”

Mattis did not speculate whether the targeted forcers were directed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps or Hezbollah, but he did blame Iran for “extending a war that should have been done years ago.” Dunford described the attack as “force protection,” adding that measures were being put into place to ensure such situations do not happen again. Mattis also briefed reporters on the major changes to the strategy against IS adopted by the Trump administration. “First, he delegated the authority to the right level to aggressively and in a timely manner move against the enemy vulnerabilities,” Mattis said. Secondly, the tactical objective shifted from pushing IS forces back in a battle of attrition to surrounding them in a war of annihilation. IS forces have been surrounded both in the western parts of Mosul and in Raqqa, and “there is no escape” for them, Mattis said.

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