DAMASCUS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd March, 2019) The Syrian army repelled a massive terrorist attack on its positions in the north of the Hama province on the border with Idlib in the early hours of Sunday, with several soldiers killed and injured, Syrian state television reported, citing a military source.
"Terrorist groups attacked several of our military positions at 01.30 a.m. Sunday local time [23.30 GMT on Saturday] using various types of weapons after fire training in the Masasna area in the north of the province of Hama," the source said, as quoted by the broadcaster.
The militants took advantage of bad weather conditions, he noted.
"Our troops repelled the attack of the militants with all their prowess and killed some of them, and also destroyed their equipment and weapons ... As a result of this attack, several of our brave soldiers died, several others were wounded," the source said.
The Syrian Armed Forces' General Staff intends to continue to resist militant attempts to penetrate the positions of the army, he added.
Idlib is one of the Syrian areas where terrorists and militants, particularly those who are part of the Jabhat Nusra terror group (banned in Russia) or affiliated with it, are active. Moreover, thousands of militants have been transported to the province from other Syrian regions under deals with Damascus.
In late February, Bouthaina Shaaban, political and media adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad, said in an interview with Al Mayadeen broadcaster that the Syrian leadership had decided to retake the Idlib province under its control and was discussing the time frames and ways to implement this decision.
On September 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed an agreement on setting up a demilitarized zone in Idlib along the contact line between the armed opposition and the government forces.
