On November 9, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) released ore details of the special operation to rescue al-Suwayda hostages, which was conducted a day earlier.
Citing a military source, the SANA stated that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) had received accurate intelligence about the location of the hostages and then began to track them carefully. Later, when a group of ISIS fighters attempted to move the hostages in the area of al-Naqsh near the town of Hamimah in the eastern Homs countryside, a special forces unit attacked the group and freed the civilians.
“The operation led to the release of the hostages … eight terrorists were killed, some of them were foreign, another terrorist was captured, three vehicles of the terrorists were also captured and other vehicles were destroyed,” the SANA quoted the military source as saying.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of Russia confirmed that Russian troops had participated in the special operation and said that fifteen children and four women had been rescued.
Despite the claim that all hostages were rescued, the Syria-based al-Suwayda 24 revealed that two children “Raafat Nashat Abu Ammar” and “Qusay Judat Abu Ammar” were killed by ISIS fighters when they attempted to escape in the start of clashes.
These civilians were abducted by ISIS fighters from their homes in the eastern al-Suwayda countryside more than two months ago. The terrorist group used them as human shields to protect its positions in the area of al-Safa. Now when the hostages are rescued, the SAA and its allies are, once again, capable of attacking the ISIS-held area with full power.
Photos of dead ISIS fighters and vehicles captured during the operation:
Click to see full-size image, by the SANA
Click to see full-size image, by the SANA
Click to see full-size image, by the SANA
Click to see full-size image, by the SANA
