South Front
FILE IMAGE: Sputnik/ Iliya Pitalev.
Syrian government forces have seized loads of weapons and ammunition from ISIS hideouts in the southern governorate of Daraa, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on April 29.
Citing a security source, the state-run news agency said that the weapons and ammunition were uncovered during recent combing operations thanks to information provided by the locals in Daraa city and its countryside.
“Authorities are still working to pursue terrorists and clear liberated areas from terrorism by removing booby traps and weapons,” the unnamed source added.
Photos shared by the SANA showed dozens of assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and heavy mortars, which were seized by Syrian security forces from different hideouts in Daraa.
Earlier this week, the 4th Division of the Syrian Arab Army and Military Intelligence Directorate deployed reinforcements in the eastern and western countryside of Daraa and conducted a series of counter-terrorism raids in both areas.
Despite losing its leader and several of its senior commanders in recent operations by government forces and local fighters in Daraa and the neighboring governorate of al-Qunitra, ISIS’ influence in southern Syria is still strong.
An officer of the Syrian Police was killed in a drive-by shooting attack near the town of Qarfa in the northern Daraa countryside earlier this month. ISIS confirmed its responsibility for the attack via its official news agency, Amaq, marking the first time it has announced an operation in southern Syria in around eight months.
The recent raids in Daraa indicate that government forces are preparing to step up counter-terrorism operations in the southern region once again.
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