Alwaght- Syrian government forces have retaken full control of the strategic military air base of Abu al-Duhur in the northwestern province of Idlib.
The capture of Abu al-Duhur was achieved after intense battles with the al-Qaida-linked al Nusra Front terrorist group.
Syrian forces also managed to liberate several villages in Idlib and the northern province of Aleppo from the grips of terrorist outfits.
According to sources, Syrian ground forces, backed by aerial cover from the air force, fully retook the key airport on Saturday, more than two years after it came under siege by foreign-backed terrorists. The advancement is part of the army’s all-out operations to liberate Idlib.
The military forces began storming the air base earlier in the day from its southern rim while other military units were fighting to secure areas in the eastern and southwestern outskirts of the air base.
On the way to the airbase, Syrian forces also liberated the village of Om Tineh, al-Ja’kiya, Hamidiya Shaddad and al-Hamidiya following heavy clashes with the terrorists of al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri group, previously known as al-Nusra Front.
Government troops also defused explosive devices and booby traps planted in the village by the terrorists.
Elsewhere, the Syrian army and allies regained full control over the village of Um Tineh to the northwest of Qeital village in the southern countryside of Aleppo after carrying on fierce clashes with terrorists of Nusra Front and other affiliated terrorist groups in the village.
According to sources, the Syrian army and allies managed to besiege the remaining Nusra terrorists in an area of 1200 square kilometers.
Additionally, army units consolidated their positions after demining and dismantling the explosive devices which were planted by the terrorists.
A number of the terrorists were killed or injured as the rest of them fled away towards the neighboring villages.
The source added that the Army Air Force and artillery bombarded the movement routs of the escaped terrorists.
Syrian forces are engaged in intensive operations to wipe out remnants of terrorists in many parts of the country after a successful offensive to retake all territories previously occupied by ISIS terrorist group in the country. Syria has been gripped by a foreign-backed insurgency since 2011 which has led to the killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians and displacing of millions.
