Syrian Government Army Takes Control of Flashpoint Idlib Village

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) – The Syrian government has reclaimed control of Alteh, a flashpoint village in the Idlib province, according to a source in the Syrian military.

“The Syrian army has taken the strategic settlement of Alteh, in northeastern Idlib, under its control,” the source said.

The Syrian government began a military campaign on Thursday to reclaim control of the Idlib province, the last Islamist bulwark in the war-torn country. Several more villages have recently been freed from the jihadists’ grip.

The statement comes after Syrian government troops regained control over several villages in the southeastern part of the province of Idlib.

Earlier in the day, Maj. Gen. Yuri Burenkov, head of the Russian Defence Ministry’s Syria reconciliation centre, said that about one hundred Syrian jihadists tried to storm the Idlib village of Qarratin al-Qabira over the weekend but were repelled by government forces.

The militants launched another attack several hours later, north of the village of Sukayyat in the same region, the general said.

A suicide bomber on an explosive-laden armored vehicle additionally attempted to ram government positions but was destroyed. Militants returned fire, which killed six government troops and left 13 others injured, Burenkov said.

In August, the Syrian government conducted a military operation to seize parts of Hama and Idlib provinces that had been controlled by militants since 2014, including the strategic city of Khan Sheikhoun, also gaining access to the M5 highway linking Damascus and Aleppo.

Idlib remains a terrorist stronghold, however, being home to an estimated 10,000 militants allied with various groups, according to the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team. In November, Syrian President Bashar Assad said that the military liberation of Idlib would not take long, adding that the start of the offensive had been impeded by militants who have hindered the evacuation of civilians.

Sourse: sputniknews.com