Syria retakes key town near Aleppo from Takfiris: Military sources

Military sources say Syrian armed forces have retaken control of al-Hader, a strategic town located south of the city of Aleppo, from Takfiri militants, as army units continue to gain more ground in their battles against terror groups.

"Syrian troops and allied forces have full control of Al-Hader," a military source inside the town said on Thursday.

Hader is located around 10 kilometers (six miles) from the key Aleppo-Damascus highway, parts which were retaken by the Syrian pro-government forces weeks ago.

Reports said that fighters of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah contributed to the liberation of Hader.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV said the town is under “full control” of Syrian forces.

It said the achievement came after Syrian forces and allies managed to penetrate the fortifications manned by the terrorist Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham in the eastern neighborhoods of the city.

“The town is the biggest headquarters for rebel forces in southern Aleppo, and capturing it would bring the army closer to the key Aleppo-Damascus highway,” The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group affiliated to Syria's foreign-backed opposition, said.

The gain came just two days after Syrian forces dealt a major blow to the Takfiri Daesh group by breaking a siege on Kwairis airbase southeast of Aleppo. The Syrian government and military said the breakthrough could significantly boost future operations in Aleppo against militants.

Syria’s official SANA agency also said that army units and allied volunteer fighters managed to recapture several key villages and farms in the southwestern countryside of Aleppo province.

A military source identified the villages as Tallet al-Arbaeen, Khirbet al-Mazare, Khirbet Nizha and Khirbet al-Mshaweh.

Syria has suffered from more than four years of foreign-backed militancy, which the government blames on some countries, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

The advances of the Syrian government forces against militants of Daesh and other terrorist groups have been expedited by the air cover provided by Russia, which began some six weeks ago.

More than 250,000 have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced as a result of the crisis in Syria since March 2011.

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