Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Hama, SANA – Army units established full control over the city of Morek in the northern countryside of Hama, eliminating a number of terrorists and mercenaries who had been running amok in the area and who had displaced its people.
A field commander told SANA that by establishing full control over Morek, the army has severed terrorists’ supply lines between al-Badiye desert and Hama’s western countryside, in addition to giving the Syrian Arab Army a tactical advantage and an advanced position in areas where terrorists are active in Idleb province, specifically Khan Sheikhoun.
The field commander said that terrorists entered Morek in December 2013 and displaced its people, turning the city into a base for them and advancing in the farmlands between Morek and Soran, but the army managed to hold back the terrorists’ advance and forced them to return to Morek’s boundaries, and following that it continued to monitor terrorist activities at the city’s outskirts and striking at their groups.
The commander said that the army began a concentrated operations to reestablish control over the city about a week ago, closing in on terrorists and employing swift attacks with wide-scale fire control from free directions, cutting off the terrorists’ supply lines, assuming control of the highway leading to the city, advancing from the south, and dismantling the terrorists’ intricate defense network.
He said that the army dismantled landmines and IEDs which were planted by terrorists in main streets as well as side streets, dismantling over 30 IEDs weighing between 50 and 300 kg.
The commander added that the army also found dozens of terrorist bases which consists of fortified cellars and underground shelters, in addition to a workshop used to manufacture the explosive shells the terrorists dub “Gehenna” shells along with launchers, hundreds of 120mm and 80mm mortar rounds, homemade rocket launchers, and a number of vehicles, some of them from Turkey, in addition to medical supplies, food, and documents of Turkish origin.
Hazem Sabbagh
