HASAKAH / IDLIB / ALEPPO / DERAA, Syria
A Syrian opposition group has claimed that 50 people – including regime soldiers and Daesh militants – have died in fighting in the northeastern city of al-Hasakah.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said in a statement that the casualties occurred as Daesh attacked regime-held southern regions of the city early Thursday. The SNHR said Daesh took control of some areas.
"Daesh mounted a car bomb attack on the areas held by [President Bashar al-] Assad regime and armed Shabiha militia. Thirty from the regime and 20 from Daesh were killed in the fighting between the two," the statement read.
The SNHR added that Daesh is advancing towards the city center and has reached the homicide bureau of the city's police department as well as the city stadium, prompting local people in the city's south to leave their homes for safer areas.
Elsewhere, Syrian regime fighter jets targeted Jarjanaz town in northwestern Idlib province late Wednesday, killing 11 people, including six children and three women.
Muhammad es-Selame, head of the local parliament of opposition-held Jarjanaz, told Anadolu Agency that the air assault occurred right before Wednesday's iftar time in a southern neighborhood of the town.
"Our civil defense teams have pulled out 11 dead bodies from the debris so far and 10 others have been rescued with injuries," he said.
Syrian opposition fighters gain in Aleppo
Abdulfattah Hussein, press agent for the Sunni opposition Mujahedeen Army, claimed to Anadolu Agency that Mujahedeen forces along with the 16th Division of the Free Syrian Army had seized control of strategic points, the central boulevard and an artillery unit in al-Layramoun region in Aleppo's northwest.
Hussein spoke of week-long fighting between the opposition forces and regime soldiers in the region.
"Opposition troops captured the buildings that served as headquarters for the regime army in al-Layramoun, which is regarded as the northern gate of Aleppo, and moved on to Al-Khalidiyah region," he said.
Hussein also claimed at least 50 regime soldiers were killed in the al-Layramoun clashes over the last week, with several Assad regime vehicles destroyed by opposition forces.
He added that Syrian army warplanes and helicopters continued their barrel and vacuum bomb attacks on opposition-held areas in al-Layramoun, demolishing or damaging several residential areas and buildings.
Meanwhile, a group of opposition troops in the country's south launched an operation titled ‘Southern Storm’ early Thursday to take back southwestern Deraa province which lies on border with Jordan.
Abu Qusay, site commander of the opposition Yarmouk Brigade, told Anadolu Agency that their main goal was taking control of regime strongholds in Deraa and around the city.
"Our aim is to seize control of the Deraa-Damascus highway especially so as to draw out Assad forces from the region," he said.
The opposition groups that have joined ranks for the "Southern Storm" operation include al-Nusra Front, Ahrar ash-Sham, Yarmouk, al-Omari and Hawran Brigades.
Syria has been gripped by violence since the Assad regime launched a crackdown in response to anti-government protests in March 2011, triggering a civil war in which more than 220,000 people have died.
