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Syrian army kills dozens of militants, seize arms

01 October 2013 23:54 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Syrian army says it has killed dozens of foreign-backed militants, including a large number of foreign nationals, and seized their weapons during operations across the country, APA reports quoting Press TV.

The army launched attacks against the militants in the provinces of Damascus, Hama, Daraa, Aleppo, Homs, Idlib and Latakia on Tuesday and killed dozens of them, the official SANA news agency reported.

In addition, the Syrian armed forces captured many machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, and hand-made rockets.

Several roadside bombs were defused along the Hama-Idlib highway.

The government troops have recently conducted successful clean-up operations across the country, inflicting heavy losses on the militants.

The Syrian army’s push against the militants rattled their sponsors.

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said on June 26 that Saudi Arabia is trembling with fear because of the Syrian army’s continuous gains against the militants.

In a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Jeddah on June 25, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal insisted that the militants in Syria must be armed with anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons.

A recent British defense study showed that about 100,000 militants, fragmented into 1,000 groups, are fighting in Syria against the government and people.

The extracts of the study by defense consultancy IHS Jane's were published on September 16.

IHS Jane's estimates that some 10,000 militants are fighting for groups affiliated with al-Qaeda such as al-Nusra Front and the rest fight for different militant groups.

The analysis also said that a large number of extremists from foreign countries are also active in Syria.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since March 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and a total of 7.8 million of others displaced due to the violence.