A major victory for Syrian army — this Thursday it managed to recapture Abu Kamal. The city had been the last major terrorist stronghold in Syria, reported this Friday the commander of the Russian operations in Syria colonel-general Sergey Surovikin to the Russian Minister of Defense Shoigu.
Sergey Surovikin, commander of the Russian troops in Syria: "Abu Kamal liberation was backed by the Russian aerospace forces. The government troops of the fifth volunteer assault corps the assault teams of brigade-general Sukhel and the people's militia took part in the operation".
Sergey Shoigu, Russian Minister of Defence: "Congratulations to our Syrian colleagues, and I congratulate you on the successful completion of your four-day operation. The aerospace forces have shown all their expertise. And most importantly, they managed to fulfill their assignment despite harsh weather conditions. I hope that Syrian forces will continue to march along the Euphrates to the North from Abu Kamal and finally encircle the whole grouping at the western bank of the Euphrates".
Our war reporter Eugeny Poddubny is working on the outskirts of Abu Kamal. He's currently live with us.
- Are we seeing you through a night-vision device, Eugeny? What's your status?
- Greetings, Dmitry. Despite the fact that the government forces quickly managed to recapture Abu Kamal and the major part of ISIS terrorists fled the city or were eliminated right now the city streets are flooded with the separate groups of pseudo-Khilafat fighters that put up local resistance.
The government forces are conducting a "clearing operation", inspecting buildings in Abu Kamal to detect ISIS fanatics that still remain in the city and eliminate the terrorists that are still in Abu Kamal. The Syrian Army managed to recapture the city so quickly primarily thanks to the precise work of the Syrian artillery and Russian air forces.
We have the footage that shows the precision of strikes against the terrorists of ISIS, destroying vehicles with heavy-caliber machine guns. The strikes also targeted the armored vehicles, tanks, and bases as well as ammunition depots.
After the "clearing" in Abu Kamal is over engineer troops will be able to clear up the mines in the city. It's known that the pseudo-Khilafat forces have mined the city streets as well as the city roads. Dmitry?
- Thank you, Eugeny. It's Eugeny Poddubny reporting from Abu Kamal, Syria.
