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Syrian army kills 125 rebels in central Hama province

Xinhua, May 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least 125 militiamen with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and likeminded groups have been killed by the Syrian army in the central province of Hama, state news agency SANA reported on Saturday.

Those militants were killed during a military offensive near the town of Hur Binafsuh in Hama countryside, said SANA, adding that the military forces managed to break the siege imposed by the rebels on the Thermal Station of the nearby town of Zara on Saturday.

During the actions, over 125 militants were killed, said SANA, adding that armored vehicles have also been destroyed.

The Nusra Front and the Ahrar al-Sham have recently unleashed a broad offensive on the town of Zara south of Hama, committing a massacre against civilians of the town, who are largely adherent to the Alewite sect, to whom the ruling elite in Syria belongs.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed or wounded, and tens kidnapped by the Nusra militants in Zara, which prompted the Syrian army to carry out a counter offensive to recapture the town and the Hur Binafsuh.

The rebels published haunting images from the massacre in Zara, one of which showed the radical rebels stepping on the bodies of bloodied women, with blood splashed on a wall in the background.

On May 14, Syria's Foreign Ministry urged the UN Security Council to condemn the massacre, saying the terror group had slaughtered women, children and the elderly without discrimination.

The terrorists have viciously killed the civilians in Zara while they were asleep, it added.

The ministry said the massacre will not dissuade the Syrian government from continuing to battle the terrorist groups, urging the UN Security Council to condemn the killing of civilians in Zara. Endit