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 | Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. |