Militant counter-offensive in Syria's Hama "ends in disaster"May 14, 2019 - 10:24 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Militants launched a powerful counter-offensive on Monday, May 13 that targeted the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) positions at the Hamamiyat axis in northwestern Hama, Al-Masdar News reports. Led by Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham and other militant elements, they stormed the Syrian Arab Army’s positions in a bid to collapse the latter’s lines and overwhelm their forces. The firefights would last for a short period of time on Monday and result in heavy casualties for all parties involved. However, the militant assault on the Hamamiyat axis would ultimately fail after they failed to breach the Syrian Arab Army’s lines on more than occassion. According to a military source in Hama city, the militants could not find any weak point along the Syrian Army’s front-lines, despite throwing several of their militants towards the government’s defenses on many occassions. The source added that the majority of the casualties from both sides were militants that ran in front of the Syrian Army’s machine gun fire. Since losing Kafr Naboudeh and Qal’at Al-Madiq, the jihadists have repeatedly tried to recover the areas they lost to the Syrian Arab Army in northwestern Hama and southern Idlib. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. U.S. welcomes efforts to define Armenia-Azerbaijan border The United States welcomes efforts to define the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, says Vedant Patel. Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. |