Report: Decisive Battle Rages in Syria’s Khan Touman, other Battlefields

AhlulBayt News Agency - The news coming from Khan Touman town, strategically located near the Aleppo-Damascus highway southwest of Syria’s Aleppo, show that there is tense fighting between the Syrian government’s forces along with allies and the forces from the terrorist group Jaysh al-Fattah, an alliance of terror factions fighting Damascus government.

Khan Touman was lost to Jaysh al-Fattah almost a week ago after tough fighting hit a climax in the area.

However, the Syrian forces, backed by allied forces from Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iranian forces, have launched counterattacks since two days ago to recapture the strategic town.

The very latest reports express that the Russian fighter jets kept striking the terrorists’ positions in Khan Touman and its outskirts including Al-Khalediah District since last night.

The Russian airstrikes were reported as intensive as two days ago.

In line with the Russian air raids, the allies-backed Syrian forces have brought the terrorists’ movements under a severe fire of their artillery and rockets.   

The reports suggest that the Syrian army has moved out of a defensive standing by fully checking the advances made by the alliance of terrorists Jaysh al-Fattah and now has embarked upon an assaulting position.

Syria’s army and Hezbollah forces have launched a limited ground offensive from Mer'ateh town near Khan Touman and south towards Khan Touman’s eastern areas, and managed to recapture some compounds of the town, including an ammunitions and arms storehouse.

Following retreat of the terrorists from some parts of the contested town, the Syrian army’s engineering units have planted landmines and road bombs across the area.

However, a battlefield source has told Iran’s Fars News Agency that the ultimate operation to recapture Khan Touman had not begun yet, adding that last night’s mission only aimed at retaking some parts east of the town through planting bombs in the area.

“Last night’s operation was totally successful,” reported FNA, quoting the field source.

“Now that we destroyed the compounds near Khan Touman, we can have a clear view of the town and so the Syrian forces could easily watch the moves of the terrorists,” reported the same source.

Taking advantage of density of buildings in Khan Touman’s south, the terrorists have set up ambushes, killing a number of Syrian forces and their allies, including fighters from Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC).

Due to its proximity to Aleppo- some 15 kilometers away from the terrorist-held city- and also the militarily significant town of Al-Hazer, Khan Touman is of high importance in taking control of Aleppo’s southern outskirts.

In the other fronts, the reports are talking about relentless attacks launched by the terrorist forces on the inhabitants of Kafaria and Fua, two towns in Syria’s northern Idlib province.

A battlefield source from the besieged Fua has noted that only yesterday the takfiri forces launched some 150 shells on Fua and Kafaria, some of them containing chemicals.

“The terrorist groups are using an array of missiles recently provided with by their supporters; some of the missiles carried chlorine gas, causing people suffer from suffocation and respiration difficulties,” Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported, quoting the same source.   

The new rockets used yesterday by terrorists against Fua and Kafaria have reportedly caused huge destruction of buildings across the two towns.

“The terrorists have used a variety of rockets like Fia, Hemam and the Hellfire missiles and shells and also Elephant missile in Fua and Kafaria assault,” the same source maintained.

The sources also added that the terrorists have introduced some changes and enhanced the destructive power of Hellfire shells.

“Earlier we could count eight seconds between the fire and impact processes of the missiles, however, this time is only three seconds now, and this shows developed shells and missile are now in the hands of the terrorists ,” the same source claimed.

The battlefield outlets reports suggested that the Hellfire missiles use Chlorine gas to add to intensity of the explosion.

The yesterday’s attacks in addition to wounding 17 civilians, who are mostly in critical conditions, have resulted in massive destruction. Many of them have lost their body parts while others are still trapped under buildings’ remains, according to the battlefield sources.

Responding to the missile assaults by terrorists on Fua and Kafaria, the Syrian army has targeted terrorists’ positions in Al-Zabadani city southwest of Syria in the capital Damascus’ outskirts, the frontline sources suggested.  




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