Syrian forces discover Israeli-made munitions, medicine in militant redoubts

Syrian government forces have discovered Israeli-made weapons as well as a considerable amount of Israeli- and US-made medicine and medical supplies from two positions of foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants in the country's southwestern provinces of Rif Dimashq and Quneitra.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Syria’s official news agency SANA that Syrian army troopers launched large-scale operations in the two provinces as they were combing the area for hidden ordinance and improvised explosive devices, which Takfiri militants had planted there.

The sources added that the munitions included Israeli- and US-built anti-tank guided missiles, 23mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannons, 14mm-caliber heavy machine guns, telecommunication devices as well as medicine, medical equipment and food.

The development came only a day after Syrian government forces uncovered large amounts of munitions and highly explosive materials from militant hideouts in Tell Silmo village of the northwestern province of Idlib.

Elsewhere in the southwestern province of Dara’a, Syrian troops found weapons belonging to Takfiri militants in Nasib village.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country.

Over 1,000 Syrian refugees return home from Lebanon

Separately, more than 1,000 Syrian refugees returned Thursday to their homeland from different areas in Lebanon, including Nabatieh, Bekaa, Tripoli and Shabaa areas.

Arabic-language Elnashra online independent newspaper reported that the return of refugees took place under the supervision of Lebanon's General Security in cooperation with the Lebanese army.

“Lebanon's General Security is keen on continuously securing a voluntary return of Syrian refugees to their towns,” Colonel Khattar Nasreddine, head of the Public Security Information Division in northern Lebanon, said.

Nasreddine said that the voluntary return of refugees to their homeland was in the interest of both the Syrian and the Lebanese nations.

More than one million Syrian refugees are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon.

The Beirut government estimates that the true number of Syrians in Lebanon stands at 1.5 million.

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