FILE IMAGE: ISIS terrorists
On Thursday, ISIS launched a large attack on the government-held villages of Al-Mabouja and Aqareb al-Safi from its positions in the villages of Abu Hanaya, Al-Hardaniyah and Kulib al-Thawr in the eastern part of the province of Hama.
ISIS started its attack by launching dozens of rockets on the villages of Al-Mabouja, Aqareb al-Safi and Salmiah town, which resulted in the wounding and killing of a number of civilians.
ISIS militants managed to capture the village of Al-Mabouja and sneak into the village of Aqareb al-Safi that had been full of civilians. ISIS militants captured the eastern district of Aqareb al-Safi where they committed a massacre against civilians killing 52 people and wounding more than 130 others, mostly elderly people, women and children.
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) repelled the ISIS attack and deployed reinforcements to the village of Aqarab al-Safi, preventing ISIS from capturing the village or cutting the road to Ithriyah.
The SAA has so far managed to kill 13 ISIS terrorists and captured 4 others. The SAA is currently besieging the remaining ISIS snipers and fighters in the school in the eastern district of the village.
Meanhile, the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq claimed that some 100 government soldiers were killed in the clashes. This claim was not confirmed by photos or videos.
It’s worth to mention that ISIS militants are mainly located in the village of Aqirbat in eastern Hama countryside and they had launched two attacks on the city of Palmyra from there previously.
