Syrian Army Mulling Military Operation against Terrorists in Northern Syria

Mohand Ali al-Haj Ali, a military commander and a member of the Syrian Parliament, told the Arabic-language website of Sputnik that based on reports from Idlib, only a part of heavy weapons of the terrorists and almost 1,000 militants have been withdrawn from the demilitarized zone, adding that tens of thousands of terrorists are still in the zone.

The news agency further reported that the Turkish side is showing off its compliance with the Sochi Agreement, adding that the Syrian Army has been preparing to kick off the liberation of occupied lands after the deadline.

Al-Haj Ali told Sputnik that the army is planning to launch its operation from Western Aleppo where the terrorists of Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board or the Al-Nusra Front) have been conducting missile attacks on residential neighborhoods.

He further said that Idlib is a highly populated province, enabling the terrorists to use people as human shield, adding that the army will use new weapons and elite forces to counter the terrorists with the least number of human casualties.

Sputnik quoted the commander as saying that should the army prevails over the first line of terrorists' positions in Idlib the remaining lines of their positions will be conquered automatically.

The Arabic-language al-Watan daily reported earlier today that the terrorists have continued their presence in the demilitarized zone in Northeastern Lattakia, Southern Idlib and Western Aleppo.

In the meantime, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that none of the terrorist groups that rule over 70 percent of the demilitarized zone that covers a large region from Northeastern Lattakia to Northwestern Aleppo has left the zone as the deadline arrived on Monday October 15.

The SOHR further said that no joint or separate patrol has been carried out by the Russian and Turkish forces in the demilitarized zone either.

In the meantime, local sources reported that terrorists launched heavy mortar attacks on the Syrian Army positions in Jubb al-Maqarah, Tadif and the Scientific Research Center in al-Sha'aba in Aleppo province in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, analysts blame Turkey's inaction in the face of the terrorists' refusal to leave the demilitarized zone in defiance of the Sochi agreement.

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