Syrian government troops have reportedly liberated 6 more villages from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) in western Syria.
According to pro-government sources, the villages of Abu Ghar, Sarha Janubi, Mushayrifah, Husaywat and Jundya in the northeastern Hama countryside are now controlled by government forces. They are the recent in a series of gains of the Syrian military in the area.
The village of Shakusiyah is formally controlled by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). However, the SAA has still not been able to secure it fully because of a high presence of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) members in its vicinity.
Meanwhile, the SAA and its allies have liberated the village of Rasm Kahal and the hill of Sawan located south of the government-held town of Khanasser.
Pro-government experts beleive that all these advances are a part of wider effort aimed at reaching and liberating the town of Abu Adh Dhuhur and the nearby airbase.