Clashes erupted in Hama’s countryside as Tahrir Al-Sham

Syrian army forces and their allied militias managed, on Saturday, to recapture Dakar Hill and other important headquarters in the outskirts of the city of Qaryateen, in the northern countryside of Homs Province. SANA News reported that troops of the Syrian army were able to recapture the city of Qaryateen, completely, and drove out all Islamic State fighters from the city, after an extensive military operation that was accompanied by missiles and artillery shelling.

Furthermore, Islamic State fighters refused to evacuate the city, after Syrian army offered them to leave safely towards the eastern side of Deir Ezzor, SANA added. The fierce battles between the Syrian army forces and Islamic State fighters have also resulted in destroying 2 regime armored vehicles.

Meanwhile, Russian helicopters bombarded headquarters of the Islamic State in the outskirts of the city using rockets and missiles, leaving casualties among the Islamic State militants. It is noteworthy that the Syrian army is aiming to retake the city of Qaryateen, which was captured by the Islamic State by a sudden attack last month, while Russia accused the US-led coalition of allowing the movement of the Islamic State militants in the areas located near Tanaf Military Base.

In the same context, Islamic State members executed on Friday three comrades for attempting to escape the group’s last stronghold in Iraq towards Syria, a paramilitary source in Anbar was quoted saying.

Almaalomah quoted the source saying that a firing squad from the militant group shot dead three senior members for sneaking outside the town of Qaim, along with their families, towards Syria’s Boukamal. The execution was witnessed by a large number of group commanders near the town’s hospital.

Since Islamic State militants took over large areas of Iraq and Syria to establish a self-styled “caliphate” in 2014, Iraqi government forces, backed paramilitary troops and U.S.-led coalition, launched a wide-scale campaign to retake those regions.

So far, the offensives managed to retake Mosul, the group’s former capital, the town of Tal Afar, Kirkuk’s Hawija and Anbar’s Annah. Only Qaim and neighboring Rawa currently remain in IS grip. Local authorities and human rights agencies believe Islamic State members are holding tens of thousands of civilians in western Anbar as future human shields, having killed hundreds for attempting to escape.

A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 196 civilians were killed, while 381 others were wounded due to violence and armed conflicts during the month of September.

On the other hand, The Israeli army carried out, on Saturday, several air strikes on the headquarters of the Syrian army, near Golan Heights, Qasioun News reported. Spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces, Avichay Adraee, said that the Israeli army forces were able to destroy 3 artillery vehicles belonging to the Syrian regime forces, near Golan Heights.

The Israeli air strikes were conducted, after the Syrian army fired five missiles towards the occupied lands, 4 of them were discovered by the Israeli forces, Adraee added. Adaree also said in tweets, “If there is an escalation in the fire, its continuation will face an Israeli escalation in response,” adding that, “the IDF will not tolerate any attempt to undermine the sovereignty of the State of Israel and the security of its population.”

“Syrian regime is responsible for any incident happening within the territory,” he explained. Last week, Israeli warplanes conducted air strikes, targeting anti-warplanes weapons and rockets launchers belonging to the Syrian army, near an army’s headquarters, located 50 kilometers east of Damascus, after the Syrian army launched SA-5 missiles and opened fire on Israeli jets, which were flying over Lebanon.

After the incident, Adaree revealed that Israel has no interest in escalating the situation; however, the Israeli troops will be prepared for any hostile activity against it.