Syrian Army Wards Off Terrorist Offensive in Hama

After more than 40 days of intense fighting, the Syrian army, and allied militias warded off and defeated an offensive of some 12,000 terrorist troops in Hama province, 210 kilometers north of Damascus, military sources confirmed today.

From the neighboring province of Idleb, a stronghold of extremists in the region, grouped together in a so-called Organization for the Liberation of the Levant led by the former Al Nusra Front, the terrorist troops opened a 35-kilometer-long line with significant advances.

Military analysts said that in the early days they were able to occupy strategic positions such as the cities of Sourán and Halfaya, sheltered by irregular units of local militias that could not withstand the first attacks of car bombs with suicides and constant infiltrations.

The goal was to occupy the provincial seat of the same name and the strategic airport of the region, but they lacked precision and thrust before the reinforcement of the units of the Syrian army, allied militias and the support of the national and Russian aviation.

In the assessment of the events, the sources indicated that in an effective combination with the air support, about 10,000 soldiers and militiamen commanded by General Suheil Al Hassan, dubbed El Tigre, stopped the terrorist attacks and began a wide counter-offensive throughout the front of combat.

In just 72 hours, the scene of confrontations was reversed and the Syrian army regained the aforementioned cities and achieved the siege of the town of Morek, forcing the terrorists to retreat more than 20 kilometers from the points of advance, who now try to strengthen defensive zones South of the province of Idleb, where members of the so-called Organization for the Liberation of the Levant are concentrated.

More than two thousand extremists, including mercenaries from Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Jordan and even Indonesia and the Maldives, were killed during the bitter fighting for more than 30 days, as well as hundreds of gun vehicles and dozens of ammunition storage points and shelters.

The sources said that in the fierce fighting more than 250 Syrian military, allied militias and a Russian officer died or were wounded, the latter victim of attacks with mortars against the position from which he directed operations.

In the last few hours, according to Syrian television videos and social networks, the army maintains pressure against terrorist groups with heavy bombings of national and Russian aviation to prevent regroupings and hasty retreats of jihadists.