Syrian Army regained control of the ancient town of Sadad after days of intensive fighting with militants from al-Nusra terrorist group.

Syrian Army regained control of the ancient town of Sadad after days of intensive fighting with militants from al-Nusra terrorist group.

Around two thousand militants from the Al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front stormed and occupied the ancient town of Sadad, 60 kilometers (37 mi) South of Homs, nearly a month ago and besieged its fifteen thousand residents to use them as human shields against the Syrian army, Al-Alam reported.

The militant groups who were driven out of Sadad were from the same groups that raided Syria's ancient Christian town of Maalula in Northeast of Damascus a couple of months ago.

Terrorists had taken Sadad to turn it into their stronghold for the al-Qalamoun war which both sides are getting ready for, an army member said.

Clashes between the army and militants in some Western and Northern parts of the town are still going on.

Sadad is a very old town and probably the one mentioned in the Old Testament under the name Zedad, translated as Sedada.

It is located on the edge of the desert and the community has remained predominantly Syria Orthodox. Aramaic is still spoken there.

Terrorists Killed, Injured in Several Areas in Damascus Countryside

The Syrian army carried out an operation against armed terrorist groups' dens near al-Amal Hospital and to the north of Dawar al-Shawaya in Yabroud city in Damascus Countryside.

A military source told SANA that many terrorists were killed during the operation including Ahmad Anka, a terrorist group leader.

The source added that army units also destroyed several cars loaded with weapons and ammunition to the west of Jaba'adin and to the north of al-Nabek, killing or injuring all the terrorists.

In a different context, a lawmaker was kidnapped by extremist militants during clashes with members of his family in Syria's eastern province of Deir Ezzor, a monitoring group reported Monday.

Militants from the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group and extremists from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) abducted MP Mohanna Faisal al-Fayyad on Sunday evening, the opposing UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.