Syrian army soldiers, backed by allied fighters from popular defense groups, have managed to thwart an offensive by terrorists on a region in the country’s strategic southwestern province of Quneitra.

The Syrian Defense Ministry said that Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra Front) terrorists launched an attack against the Tal Ahmar area of Quneitra, situated some 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of the capital, Damascus, on Saturday, prompting a fierce gun battle with Syrian soldiers and fighters from popular defense groups.

Scores of terrorists were killed and injured in the fighting, and a considerable amount of their munitions destroyed.

Israeli military aircraft later carried out a number of airstrikes against Tal Ahmar in the wake of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham’s defeat.

Meanwhile, seven Israeli ambulances carried the wounded militants away from Jubata al-Khashab Village in southern Syria to a field hospital inside the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories to treat them, Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Ahed news website reported.

There are also reports that Syrian army soldiers have lobbed a barrage of mortar shells at militant positions inside Turnejeh and Jubata al-Khashab villages, leaving seven terrorists dead.



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with a militant wounded in Syria at a field hospital in the occupied Golan Heights, February 18, 2014. (Photo by AP)[/caption]

Damascus says the Tel Aviv regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding the Takfiri militant groups fighting against the Syrian government.

Israel has spent millions of dollars for the treatment of terrorists injured in fighting with Syrian government forces, documents from Israeli hospitals reportedly show.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. Damascus says Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar are the main supporters of the militants fighting the government forces.

According an estimate by Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special envoy for Syria, some 400,000 people have lost their lives as a result of over five years of conflict in Syria.

By Press TV