AMMAN, June 7 (KUNA) -- The Syrian regular troops and the pro-regime militia secured battlefield gains against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the northeastern governorate of Al-Hasakah on Sunday.
The troops, backed by the National Defense Forces (NDF) militia, managed to recapture the areas of the juvenile prison and Al-Shohadaa cemetery as well as Al-Watwatiya village, to the south of Al-Hasakah city, after fierce battles against the ISIL, the opposition Syria Mubasher news network (SLN) reported tonight.
At least 20 soldiers and pro-regime militiamen and a yet-to-be-specified number of ISIL militants were killed in the ongoing battles amid air raids on several ISIL-held parts in Al-Hasakah, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
In the central governorate of Homs, at least 17 civilians were killed and scores of others wounded as a result of barrel bomb attacks on Al-Zaafarana town.
Meanwhile, the regular troops, backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah group and the NDF, advanced on Islamist opposition groups, notably Al-Nusra Front, in the strategic border region of Al-Qalamoun on the northwestern rural outskirts of Damascus.
At least three members of Hezbollah were killed in the battles which are still going on in Jerud Arsal and Nahla areas in the mountainous region since Sunday morning.
The state-run SANA news agency said the army and Hezbollah forces regained control over Al-Hamra Al-Qasir border crossing in Al-Qalamoun. (end) tk.gb