BEIRUT, LEBANON (3:23 P.M.) – The Syrian Arab Army and allied paramilitaries have seized a highly-prized town from the control of Al-Qaeda-linked militants in the northeastern countryside of Hama province amid an a new and rapidly expanding offensive operation in the region.
Moments ago, sources exclusive to Al-Masdar News confirmed that the strategic town of Rahjan was ripped from the clutches of the Al-Qaeda-linked Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly called Jabhat al-Nusra and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham) terrorist group by Syrian army-led forces.
Rahjan’s capture comes just hours after pro-government forces took the town of Al-Shakusiyah further northeast and represents a new offensive operation by the Syrian Arab Army aimed at entirely expelling jihadist-led militias from Hama province.
Rahjan is a culmination of smaller interconnected villages based around a main settlement that served as the hometown of the Syrian Ministry of Defence prior to it being seized by jihadist-led militias in 2014.