Syrian Army Liberates 18 Towns, Villages in Northeast Latakia Province

The Syrian Army's General Command released a statement saying that  militants had been squeezed out of a number of strategic towns and villages, including al-Ghnaimiye, al-Qalai’e, Beit Sukkar, al-Ouainat, Khan al-Joz, Beit Riha, Bradon, al-Souda, al-Khadra, Reef Mekhtaro, al-Jamousiye, al-Saraya, al-Rayyana and al-Shakria.

The statement came after the Syrian troops managed to take control of the town of Rabia, one of the major Islamist strongholds in Latakia.

The statement underscored the importance of establishing control over Rabia, something that the Syrian Army command said would help the government forces destroy the remaining terrorist groups in Latakia's contested northeast.

In another development, the army and the NDF reportedly took full control of a strategic district located near Kweiris Airbase in the northern province of Aleppo.

The liberation of the district from Daesh came after the Syrian troops and the NDF took back the strategic villages of Qatar and Tal Hattabat, located to the north of Kweiris Airbase late last week.

Adding to the Syrian Army's anti-terror effort is Russia's ongoing air campaign in Syria, which was launched on September 30, when more than fifty Russian warplanes, including Su-24M, Su-25 and Su-34 jets, commenced precision airstrikes on Daesh targets in the country at the behest of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The statement came as dozens of Daesh terrorists were killed and many more wounded after the Syrian Army foiled a spate of militants' attempts to seize hilltops located near the strategic town of Baqaliyeh in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor.