A National Liberation Front (NLF) commander confirmed on Sunday that regime forces and their allied armed groups have suffered immense losses on the battlefronts of Hama and Latakia.
“More than 40 regime forces and their allied armed groups, including two officers, were killed when opposition factions launched two attacks on their posts in the area of Tal Abu al-Asaad in the countryside of northern Latakia’s Atira Mountain,” the commander told the German news agency.
He said Turkish-backed NLF fighters killed all pro-regime gunmen in the area and seized weapons and ammunition.
In the countryside of northern Hama, where the fiercest battles raged between regime forces and opposition factions in the town of Tal Malah, the commander said opposition fighters controlled more than 80 percent of the town, killing more than 30 regime forces, including 10 in a missile attack that targeted their car on the edge of Jamlah village.
The commander, who wished to remain anonymous, denied news published by the regime and Russia that their forces are regaining control of areas that had fallen to the opposition.
Also, NLF spokesman Naji Mustafa said that regime forces had not controlled the town of Tal Malah.
“Fighters supported by the Syrian regime and Russia failed to recapture the town,” he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday that 266 people have been killed since opposition factions launched their attack on the countryside of northwestern Hama last Thursday.
Separately, a report published on the National Interest website expressed fears about Iranians seemingly planning to use Syria as a forward operating base, giving Tehran strategic proximity to Israel.
“Likewise, the Lebanese terrorist group, Hezbollah, will likely stay in Syria to support Damascus while developing options to threaten Jerusalem,” the website wrote.
It said that just last week there were reports that the regime used chemical weapons again, this time in the northwestern part of the country.
