TT On-The-Go
TT Feed
| Syrian troops capture key Homs neighborhood |
|
 |
 |
 |
Font Size 
 Syria's foreign-sponsored militants suffered another blow on Monday when government troops captured a key district in the embattled city of Homs that has been a militant stronghold since the beginning of the country's insurgency.
The capture of Khaldiyeh is a setback for the foreign-sponsored rebels in the strategic central heartland, bringing President Bashar al-Assad's government closer to its goal of capturing all of Homs, Syria's third largest city — including neighborhoods in its Old City that the insurgents have held for more than a year, AP reported.
The foreign-sponsored militants acknowledged the loss of Khaldiyeh.
Syrian TV aired live video from the neighborhood, showing troops roaming deserted streets and waving flags in front of shell-scarred buildings.
State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed army commander saying the fall of Khaldiyeh would significantly boost army operations aimed at dislodging rebels from central areas of Homs. Khaldiyeh is important because it links other rebel-held districts in the heart of the city through a network of tunnels the rebel dug to ferry weapons and other supplies, the commander said.
A month ago, the government launched a sweeping offensive to retake rebel-held areas of Homs. Its capture would be the second major setback to the foreign-sponsored militants in central Syria in as many months.
In early June, government forces captured the strategic town of Qusair in Homs province near the border with Lebanon. Troops have also captured Talkalakh, another border town in the province.
The province of Homs is Syria's largest, running from the Lebanese frontier in the west all the way to the border with Iraq and Jordan in the east. The city of Homs serves as a crossroads between the main highway from Damascus and the road to the coastal region.
Khaldiyeh had a population of about 80,000, but only some 2,000 have remained there as residents have fled the violence, activists say. The heavy fighting over the past two years has caused extensive damage, with some buildings reduced to rubble.
In a report on Monday, Syrian state TV said "the Syrian army has restored security and stability in the whole neighborhood of Khaldiyeh in Homs."
A Syrian TV reporter embedded with troops in the area gave a live report standing in front of damaged buildings. He interviewed an army officer who said the troops fought a tough battle against rebels who mined buildings and fought from tunnels.
"As of this morning, our armed forces in cooperation with the (pro-government paramilitary) National Defense Forces have taken control of Khaldiyeh and are now cleansing the neighborhood," said the officer, surrounded by about a dozen soldiers and plainclothes security agents.
"The fate of terrorists will be under our feet," he said.
The Syrian Army’s push against the militants rattled their sponsors.
Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said on June 26 that Saudi Arabia is trembling with fear because of the Syrian Army’s recent successes against the militants.
In a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Jeddah, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal insisted on June 25 that the militants in Syria must be armed with anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons.
Zoubi said that the Saudi weapons and money is the main reason behind bloodshed in Syria, adding that Faisal “is lost in the Syrian blood.”
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions of others displaced in the violence.
  Socialize this Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay in touch and receive all of TT updates right in your feed reader
|