(Zaman Al Wasl)- Free Syrian Army units pressed new gains against ISIS in a desert area east of Damascus, taking two bastions and strategic hilltops, commander told Zaman al-Wasl.
Younes al-Salameh, spokesman for Jaish Osoud al-Sharqiya, or the Army of East Lions, mostly tribesmen, said they captured parts of Abu Shamat region in Badiyat al-Sham and checkpoints in the eastern countryside of Homs.
This week, the biggest of the FSA groups in the area has captured 15 hilltops and checkpoints from ISIS in the Syrian desert, including Tel Dakwa, Sabe' Biar, Makhoul, Telol Salman, or Salman Hills, Tel Asfar, Zaza, Sais, Sad al-Rysha and hilltops in Batra mountain near the Jordanian border.
Salameh has also accused regime army of backing ISIS as its warplanes keep targeting rebels in the ongoing battles.
Their sudden gains are a culmination of months of covert operations in which they have ambushed and cut communications lines to weaken the militants' stronghold in the southeastern border area close to Iraq, the rebels say.
"Extensive areas have fallen into our hands. (Islamic State) has been pushed out of them in heavy clashes in 16 days of battles," Talas al Salameh, the commander of the Osoud al-Sharqiya, told Reuters.
"(Islamic State) had cut roads and were in control and had been positioned in former Syrian army bases with a strong presence and with heavy armor. We cut links between their areas and as a result they began to retreat," al-Salamah said.
Younes al-Salameh, spokesman for Jaish Osoud al-Sharqiya, or the Army of East Lions, mostly tribesmen, said they captured parts of Abu Shamat region in Badiyat al-Sham and checkpoints in the eastern countryside of Homs.
This week, the biggest of the FSA groups in the area has captured 15 hilltops and checkpoints from ISIS in the Syrian desert, including Tel Dakwa, Sabe' Biar, Makhoul, Telol Salman, or Salman Hills, Tel Asfar, Zaza, Sais, Sad al-Rysha and hilltops in Batra mountain near the Jordanian border.
Salameh has also accused regime army of backing ISIS as its warplanes keep targeting rebels in the ongoing battles.
Their sudden gains are a culmination of months of covert operations in which they have ambushed and cut communications lines to weaken the militants' stronghold in the southeastern border area close to Iraq, the rebels say.
"Extensive areas have fallen into our hands. (Islamic State) has been pushed out of them in heavy clashes in 16 days of battles," Talas al Salameh, the commander of the Osoud al-Sharqiya, told Reuters.
"(Islamic State) had cut roads and were in control and had been positioned in former Syrian army bases with a strong presence and with heavy armor. We cut links between their areas and as a result they began to retreat," al-Salamah said.
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