Publish Date: 4 September 2023 - 08:24

TEHRAN, Sep. 04 (MNA) – The Syrian army foiled an attack by an armed terrorist group on the outskirts of the western city of Aleppo, inflicting “heavy losses” on their members and equipment.

Syria’s official news agency SANA, citing a statement issued by the Syrian Ministry of Defense on Sunday, said the army’s units in Idlib countryside “shot down two drones through which the terrorists tried to target the safe civilian areas and some military points.”

The news agency also said the Syrian army foiled an attack by an armed terrorist group on the outskirts of the western city of Aleppo, inflicting “heavy losses” on their members and equipment.

“The army’s units destroyed an armed vehicle used by the terrorists to launch missiles,” the statement added.

Earlier in the week, a large number of foreign-backed militants were killed and wounded in Idlib after Syrian and Russian warplanes carried out a series of joint airstrikes on terrorist bases in the northwestern region.

The Syrian Ministry of Defense said the aerial raids were in retaliation for recent terrorist attacks on the positions of Syrian army troops in the rural districts of Idlib and the neighboring province of Hama.    

While Syria has been battling terrorist groups across the country for the past years, the US military has had its forces and equipment stationed in the northeast, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oil fields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.

Damascus maintains that the deployment is meant to plunder Syria’s natural resources. Former US President Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in the Arab country for its oil wealth.

MNA/PressTV