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ISIS militants expel Syrian rebels from key town in Daraa
[ARANews] HOMS – Subsequent to fierce clashes with opposition factions, militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) were able Wednesday to capture a key town in Syria’s southern province of Daraa, local sources reported.Speaking to ARA News in Daraa, local media activist Ghalib Ali said that ISIS, represented in the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade and the Islamic Movement of Muthanna [who had swore allegiance to ISIS], were able Wednesday to seize control of the strategic town of Adwan after clashes with opposition fighters in the western suburbs of Daraa, southern Syria. “The clashes broke out in the early hours of Wednesday’s morning and lasted for several hours after a number of ISIS militants infiltrated into the western district of the town,” Ali reported. The extremists carried out an offensive on an opposition-held checkpoint at the western entrance of Adwan town and were able to kill a number of Syrian rebels and capture some others, according to the source. “With taking over the checkpoint, Daesh was able to send dozens of insurgents into the heart of the town,” he ARA News, using an acronym for ISIS. “At least 19 rebel fighters were killed and four others captured at the hands of the terror group after seizing control of the town,” Ali said, pointing out that ISIS extremists have publicly executed a number of captives in the town’s main square, vowing opposition fighters in the rest of the towns to face the same destiny. “ISIS militants hang several corpses of the victims [rebels] in the public square of the town,” an eyewitness told ARA News, speaking on condition of anonymity. In response to ISIS’s advancement in the western suburbs of Daraa province, the opposition-linked Supreme Military Council operating in the southern province issued a statement, in which it regarded the ISIS-held towns of Taseel and Adwan in the western countryside of Daraa as military targets. Subsequent to ISIS progress on Wednesday, opposition fighters in the southern front of Syria have pounded Taseel and Adwan towns with heavy artillery from their positions in Tel al-Jumu near the city of Nawa in Daraa province. No casualties reported. Posted by: badanov 2016-04-07 |
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