Click to see full-size image, by al-Suwayda 24
On August 17, a highly-trained small unit of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) 5th Corps carried out a special operation in the heavily fortified area of al-Safa north of the governorate of al-Suwayda, according to al-Suwayda 24 blog.
The 5th Corps unit managed to penetrate ISIS’ defenses and reached the area of Hawi Awad, where the soldiers searched for around 30 civilian hostages, who were abducted by the terrorist group three weeks ago. However, the unit retreated after failing to find the hostages and clashing with several fighters of the terrorist group.
Click to see full-size image, by al-Suwayda 24
Click to see full-size image, by al-Suwayda 24
Click to see full-size image, by al-Suwayda 24
According to the Syria-based blog, Russian military advisors and unnamed aerial vehicles of the Russian Aerospace Forces assisted the 5th Corps unit during the special operation.
During the last three weeks, the Damascus government negotiated with ISIS to release the hostages. However, the negotiations failed because the terrorist group made unrealistic demands.
Now it appears that the Damascus government has taken the decision to free the hostages by force. The upcoming hours will likely witness more special operations of the SAA and its allies deep inside al-Safa.
