Rebel fighters kill 87 army soldiers and detain 300 others / Hundreds of regime soldiers detained in the suburbs of Idlib

Syrian Revolution News Round- up / Day 577

Fierce fighting has raged between rebel fighters and the Syrian army in the suburbs of Idlib and Latakia as the Syrian army seeks to regain control of the strategic city of Ma’arrat Noman which links Damascus with Aleppo. Rebel fighters said they killed more than 36 soldiers and detained 300 others in Idlib only and seized control of the military checkpoints of Sahyan and Ceramic in the Idlib suburb of Heish. They also seized control of a big part of the Wadi Adayf military base while continued to besiege the air defence base in the town of Salqin whereby 70% of it came under their control.

Meanwhile, at least 63 people were killed, including two women and four children, in the suburbs of Idlib, including 21 civilians that were murdered in the town of Darkoush as hundreds of regime troops backed with 18 military tanks invaded the town and wreaked havoc on it. The regime’s heavy artillery and fighter jets fiercely bombarded the towns of Deir Sharqi, Saraqeb, Bennesh, Khan Sheikhoun, Nerab, Ma’arrat Noman and most of the villages and town in the southern suburbs of Ildib leaving scores of civilians dead and hundreds more wounded. Meanwhile, three men were severely injured after been hit by an explosive mine laid by regime forces in the recently captured town of Khirbet al-Jouz.  

Regime forces resumed their massive military offensive in Damascus and its suburbs whereby at least 25 unidentified bodies were discovered in a landfill in the town of Qatana, while four more were summarily executed in the town of Rankous. Regime forces also executed three civilians in the neighbourhood of Tadamon and one more in the neighbourhood of Zahera in Damascus while dozens of people were also killed due to the fierce and indiscriminate shelling that targeted the southern neighbourhoods of Damascus as well as its provincial towns of Harasta, Douma, Zamalka and Zebdin.

At least 21 men were executed as they tried to cross a military checkpoint on the Raqa-Deir Azzour highway, while four corpses were discovered in the Daraa suburb of Ghariya Sharqiya following the massive military campaign that destroyed the entire town. Heavy fighting and fierce shelling resumed throughout the city of Aleppo leaving at least 31 civilians dead and dozens more wounded. The regime’s heavy artillery, rocket launchers, fighter jets and helicopter gunships bombarded more than 25 different neighbourhoods and towns in the province of Homs, leaving scores of civilians dead and many more wounded. Fierce fighting has raged between rebel fighters and the joint Syrian-Hezbollah forces on the edges of the old city of Homs and the neighbourhoods of Khaldiya, Qosour and Jouret Sheyah as well as the provincial towns of Rastan and Qosayr.

Regime forces also resumed their military campaigns amid suffocating siege in the provinces of Daraa, Deir Azzour, Hama, Latakia and Raqa, leaving scores of civilians dead and many more wounded, while destroying dozens of houses thus prompting a mass exodus.