Syrian Jets Smash Daesh Oil Tanker Trucks in Series of Raids

Damascus forces have eliminated dozens of members of various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIL/Islamic state) and Jaish al-Fatah (formerly al-Nusra Front), destroying scores of vehicles, local media reported.

According to Syrian news agency SANA, the Syrian military have conducted a number of operations in such provinces as Hama, Aleppo and Sweida, as well as Daraa, inflicting damage to various terrorist groups operating in those areas.

The largest number of raids occurred in the Hama province, where government forces have been carrying out attacks throughout the week.

On Thursday, Syrian jets destroyed a tank and several vehicles belonging to the Ajnad al-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa factions, killing 30 in the north of the province.

Earlier that day, government air forces struck Jaish al-Fatah and other groups. The attacks have seen some 50 terrorists killed and 70 wounded. A trove of equipment, including trucks armed with machine guns were destroyed as well.

A military source confirmed the death of Mohamed al-Ashqar, a head of Jaish al-Izza, a group included in the Free Syrian Army, in an aerial attack.

A convoy of vehicles on the western outskirts of Aleppo, one the country’s major cities, was destroyed in Syrian air attacks. However, officials did not specify the exact number of losses inflicted to the terrorist groups.

In attacks on Daesh in Sweida, the Syrian army destroyed a caravan of tanker trucks transporting oil in the south of the province, killing all fighters escorting the procession.

Daesh has been losing ground in Syria recently after its second-in-command, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, was killed in a Russian airstrike that eliminated 40 militants earlier in the week.

Daesh is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Syrian civilians. A recent geographical survey discovered some 72 mass graves containing 5,200-15,000 victims of the violent extremists.

The ongoing five-year Syrian civil war has see some 400,000 civilians killed, and at least 12 million displaced, making it the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura reported.