Assault on the militant point-defense positions in Adra

Syria Update: Assault on the militant point-defense positions in Adra city

SAA army was preparing a retaliation attack on the terrorists and we had arrived to make a documentary about the planned assault on one of the militants’ key point-defense positions. The city of Adra was on the right side of the road. The civilian traffic cars had to dash at a very high speed on that particular passage of the highway. The militant snipers’ firing points were located 500-700 meters away from the road and the snipers were known to be firing at stationary targets. It was dangerous to stop there on the road.   

Those were the outskirts of Adra. Local civilians’ happily welcoming the SAA battle tanks bespoke the fact that the SAA troops were acting on the side of the Syrian people here. Kids were not running away from the tanks in fear and local parents were not hiding their children from the coming army troops. The arrival of armed service men gave hope to everybody. It was clear to everyone that the army troops had arrived to reestablish order and the rule of law in the neighborhood.

Those buildings [we were passing by] had been recaptured from the militants some time before. The peaceful city blocks were already 200 meters behind us at that moment. The driving skills of the tank men were playing the crucial role at this moment. It was important to steer the battle tanks along the narrow alleyways without damaging the surrounding structures.

The left-hand side of the alley was under recurrent militant sniper fire and we had to stay behind the tanks using their armor as cover.

At that moment, routine preparations for another anti-terrorist operation - aimed at clearing the town of terrorists - had begun. High spirits among the soldiers prevailed, in a calm anticipation of combat.

It was mere days before the beginning of the operation to capture the militants’ point-defense positions located in a local school building. The following day, we would go to do the reconnaissance.

Andrey Filatov, Victor Kuznetsov, Marat Musin. ANNA-News. Adra, Syria