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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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| Information | | |
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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02Dec14
Syrian troops kill tens of rebels near Lebanon borders
The Syrian troops on Tuesday killed tens of rebels in the countryside of central province of Homs near the Syrian-Lebanese borders, the state news agency reported.
The troops carried out "qualitative operation" against the extremist groups in the southern countryside of Homs near the Syrian-Lebanese borders, killing tens of them and destroying their weaponry, said SANA.
The report added that the terrorists, most of them foreign mercenaries, infiltrate Syria through the rugged areas between Lebanon and Homs and via the al-Qalamoun region, which is also a cross-border area.
SANA said the extremists belong to the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front. They are supported by the Lebanese Tayar al-Mustakbal, or Future Movement, a Sunni political movement led by Sa'ad al-Hariri, which has emerged as one of the staunchest supporters of the Syrian opposition.
Also in Homs, the troops backed by the pro-government National Defense Forces clashed with the rebels in the orchards of the al-Waer neighborhood on Tuesday, the last rebel stronghold in the western part of Homs city, said SANA, adding that the government forces haunted down fighters of the Islamic State (IS) militants in the eastern countryside of Homs.
SANA said the armed "terrorist" groups are using the al-Waer neighborhood as a launching pad for their attacks against the government-controlled areas in the city, contending that the rebels in that neighborhood are taking the civilians as human shields.
Still, SANA said the government is committed to allowing the entry of aid rations into that besieged neighborhood in accordance with the government's agreement with the UN.
The state news agency also said that the Syrian troops eliminated undisclosed number of radical rebels in the vicinity of the al-Shaer natural gas field in the countryside of Homs.
The IS attacked the field repeatedly in recent months, and used to capture it twice.
However, the Syrian troops had managed to recapture this strategic site that is responsible for providing the electricity stations in the southern region with the needed gas for power production.
SANA charged that the IS are stealing the Syrian oil and selling it on global market via Turkish dealers, branding this move as a violation to the UN Security Council's resolution adopted last July that prohibited the purchase of oil from the IS.
Activists recently said that the Islamic State had seized control of the majority of the oil fields in the oil-rich province of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syrian near the borders with Iraq.
Meanwhile, the oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday well over 200,000 people were killed and over 500,000 wounded since the eruption of the Syrian crisis nearly four years ago.
The death toll includes 97,910 civilians and 34,838 rebel fighters as well as 44,237 government soldiers and 28,974 pro-Syrian government militants, according to the Observatory.
[Source: Xinhua, Damascus, 02Dec14]
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