The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and National Defense Forces (NDF) conducted several successful operations in the Latakia Countryside, liberating 6 villages and killing scores of militants from the Islamic Front and Jabhat Al-Nusra. The villages of ‘Ayn Al-Joozi, Raweesa Al-Zeitouneh, Al-Ja’awara, Al-Balata Kabeer, Tal Doreen, and Kataf Al-Ghanama were all confirmed under Syrian Government control as of 2:00 P.M. Damascus Time. According to a military source, over 60 militants were killed during the offensive in the Latakia countryside.
Also in Latakia, the Syrian Arab Army has begun an offensive in the rebel-held village of Salma near the border of Turkey. Salma has long been a rebel stronghold and an area used to launch indiscriminate rockets into neighboring villages with a strong SAA and NDF presence. The Syrian Air Force conducts daily air raids on rebel positions in Salma; however, the prevalent mountains in northeastern Latakia provide shelter for many of the entrenched rebels.
Mouqawama Souriya (Syrian Resistance) and the NDF continue to carry out operations in the villages of Doreen and Jabal Noubeh – two areas that are rebel-controlled and fortified. Earlier today, both forces attacked the rebels, in conjunction with the SAA’s offensive in northeast Latakia, killing a large group of militants from Jabhat Al-Nusra and ‘Ahrar Al-Sham.
In Hama, the Syrian Arab Army’s “Tiger Forces” liberated the village of Al-Masasaneh in west Hama, two days after launching an attack on Jabhat Al-Nusra in this area. Tiger Forces are currently besieging the Islamic Front village of Al-Lataminah, located southeast of the strategic city of Kafr Zita and southwest of Morek. The fall of the latter two cities could result in the absence of rebel operations in the Hama Governate.
