Syrian troops ambush rebels in Hama province: state media

Syrian troops ambushed and killed 23 opposition militants in the central province of Hama Monday, according to the state news agency SANA.

Government forces ambushed the extremist rebels in the towns of Hamadi and Tadmur in the northern countryside of Hama, destroying their weapons depots, said SANA, adding no further details.

Syrian troops have recently been concentrating on dislodging the rebels out of Hama, along with capturing a number of key towns in that region of the country.

Meanwhile, SANA said Syrian troops killed an undisclosed number of Islamic State (IS) militants in the town of Jafra near the contested Deir al-Zour airbase on the east of the province.

The oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy clashes in the proximity of the airbase Monday, stating the clashes were paired with four airstrikes on IS locations in Jafra.

The IS has been on the offensive to capture the Deir al-Zour airbase, the last remaining lifeline for government troops in the oil-rich province which shares borders with Iraq.

However, backed by the air force, Syrian troops in the area managed to stand their ground against repeated IS attacks.

Owing to the strategic location of the Deir al-Zour province near the IS bases in neighboring Iraq, the IS rebels have captured considerable swathes of terrain there. Endit