Tasnim� Syria�s army and its allies continued to make gains in their military campaign against Daesh terrorists in Homs, retaking several village in the central province.

A military source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told SANA news agency that the Syrian army units continued their operations in al-Badiya desert in the eastern countryside of Homs province, establishing control over a number of villages four kilometers east of al-Dulai�iat area and 70 km east of the Third Station.

The source added that the operations claimed the lives of a large number of Takfiri militants and destroyed their weapons and equipment.

Earlier, the Syrian governement forces struck Daesh positions in the vicinity of al-Maqaber and al-Panorama areas in the province, killing 18 terrorists and destroying an armored vehicle as well as two pickup trucks equipped with heavy machineguns.

Over the past six years, Syria has been fighting foreign-sponsored militancy. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated in August 2016 that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the Syrian crisis until then. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.