Illustrative image.
Late on April 22, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) foiled an attack by militants on one of its checkpoints near the strategic Tell al-Hara hilltop in the western Daraa countryside.
Tell al-Hara hosts a large signal intelligence base that was once operated by the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate, commonly known by its previous abbreviation GRU, and the Reconnaissance Directorate of the SAA. The base was captured by rebels in 2014. Four years later, it returned to government control. However, it was not reactivated.
According to the Syrian Arab News Agency, a soldier and two of the attackers were killed during the clashes near Tell al-Hara. The state-run news agency added that two more militants were wounded, without clarifying if they were captured by the SAA.
Click to see full-size image.
Click to see full-size image.
No side has yet claimed responsibility for the failed attack, which came around three months after the Israeli Defense Forces dropped leaflets near Tell al-Hara warning the SAA against allowing operatives of Lebanon’s Hezbollah into the hilltop.
The attack may have been orchestrated by Israeli intelligence, or one of ISIS’s remaining cells in the western Daraa countryside.
All in all, the attack highlights the unstable situation in Daraa and the rest of Syria’s southern region. Earlier this month, a series of attacks near the Golan Heights front left four officers of the army and intelligence dead. The perpetrators are yet to be identified.
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