Syria/Iraq update 7/18/2019..A bus carrying soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army struck by an IED in western Daraa

A bus carrying soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army struck by an IED in western Daraa

A bus carrying soldiers and officers of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) was struck by an improvised-explosive device (IED) while it was passing near the town of al-Yadudah in western Daraa in the morning of July 17.

Pro-government activists said that at least five Syrian service members were killed and several others were injured in the blast, which completely destroyed the bus. Al-Yadudah’s local fighters joined the reconciliation process in mid-2018 following the SAA’s large-scale military operation in southern Syria.

This was the second such attack in southern Syria this month. On July 13, an IED planted on the road between Busra al-Sham and al-Sahoah in eastern Daraa targeted a unit of the Russian Military Police. However, no one was injured or killed. Opposition sources claim that these attacks and many before were carried out by new anti-government groups in southern Syria. However, local observers believe that terrorist groups, like ISIS and even Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), are trying to destabilize the situation in the region by carrying out such actions.

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Farsnews Syria in Past 24 Hours

Syrian tribes are working to form a Popular Resistance against the occupying US Troops in Eastern Syria, the Arabic-language media outlets said on Wednesday.

Deir Ezzur

The Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper quoted local sources in Eastern Syria as saying that a meeting has recently been held between tribal leaders and the elderly as well as head of Deir Ezzur Military Security Committee and the province’s governor Abdelmajid al-Kawakebi and Syrian Army’s backup forces.

The sources noted that participants in the meeting discussed issues such as forming popular resistance forces against occupying American forces in Deir Ezzur and al-Jazira region of Syria and ways to confront these forces.

Meantime, the Arabic-language Arabi al-Youm pointed to acute differences between Arab tribes in Eastern Deir Ezzur with the US-backed militants, and said that the tribal leaders of al-Akidat and al-Bakareh tribes in Eastern Deir Ezzur strongly opposed the Kurdish militias’ decision to dismiss head of Deir Ezzur Civil Council and replace him with their own forces.

Hama, Idlib

The terrorist groups destroyed a crucial bridge in Sahl al-Ghab region in Northwestern Hama to prevent the Syrian Army troops from making further advances there, the Arabic-language media outlets reported.

The Arabic-language website of the Russian Sputnik News Agency quoted local sources in Northern Hama as saying that the terrorist groups stationed in Sahl al-Ghab annihilated Jasr Beit al-Ra’as Bridge which is linked to the areas under the Syrian Army’s control.

The sources noted that Jasr Beit al-Ra’as was the last bridge which was connected to areas controlled by the Syrian Army in Sahl al-Ghab, and said that this measure of the terrorists was due to their fear from the Syrian Army’s advances in areas under their control in Sahl al-Ghab.

Meantime, the Syrian Army’s artillery and missile units attacked the military positions of Tahrir al-Sham al-Hay’at (the Levant Liberation Board or the Al-Nusra Front) and Islamic Turkistani Party in several regions of Northern Hama and Southern Idlib.

The Syrian Army destroyed a number of military positions and centers of the terrorists in Northern Hama and Southern Idlib, inflicting heavy losses on them.

Meantime, battlefield source reported that the Syrian Army has dispatched a massive military convoy comprising tens of military vehicles, tanks and heavy canons along with their troops to Jourin military base in Northwestern Hama.

Also in the past 24 hours, a sum of 6 command centers and an arms depot as well as military equipment of Tahrir al-Sham al-Hay’at were destroyed in joint airstrikes by Russian and Syrian air forces in Hama and Idlib provinces, media sources said.

The Arabic-language website of the Russian Sputnik News Agency quoted a military source as saying that the Russian and Syrian fighter jets in their continued raids pounded the terrorist groups’ military positions in the towns of Khan Sheikhoun, Tarmala, Kafar Ain and the surroundings of Jisr al-Shoughour in Southern and Southwestern Idlib as well as the towns of al-Hawijeh and al-Hawash in Northwestern Hama.

The source noted that during the attacks, six command posts of Tahrir al-Sham and Turkistani Party terrorists as well as an arms depot and military base of Chechen terrorists were destroyed.

Aleppo

The Turkish Army’s fresh military convoys comprising elite forces have arrived along the border with Syria as Ankara and its allied militants continued their attacks on the Kurdish militias’ military positions in Northern Aleppo, the Kurdish-language media outlets reported Wednesday.

The Ankara-backed militants of the Euphrates Shield launched mortar attacks on Al-Bab Military Council’s positions in the town of Kurhovik town in Eastern al-Bab in Northeastern Aleppo from their positions in Jeb al-Dam town, the Kurdish-language Hawar News said.

Meantime, battlefield sources reported that a new military convoy comprising the Turkish Army’s Special commando forces together with armored military vehicles and equipment was sent to the city of Kelis in Southern Syria and near the border with Syria.

The sources also reiterated that the Ankara-backed terrorists known as the National Army have reinforced their military positions in al-Daghalbash and Ableh regions near the Kurdish-controlled areas in al-Bab city in Northeastern Aleppo and deployed heavy military equipment in the region.