Aleppo - The army soldiers continued to hit Islamic State's defense lines hard in Southeastern Aleppo and won back the villages of Atshaneh, Kharibeh, Jubb Ali, Hayat, Khaniser, Zobd, Darihem, Haqal Darihem, Aqil, Hawaz, Qali'eh, al-Toniyeh, Western Hamidiyeh and Eastern Hamidiyeh in the Eastern and Northeastern direction of Khanasser. The army's advances occurred while the soldiers seized back control of a road from their positions in SyriaTel checkpoint Southwest of the town of al-Rasafeh in Raqqa province to their positions in the town of Ithriya in Hama province, laying siege on the newly-captured villages. A military source, meantime, said that the army has expanded security to Ithriya-Khanasser road in Southeastern Aleppo, adding that the Eastern territories along the road to the Western bank of the Euphrates River are now safe. The Syrian Soldiers began a military operation to reduce the ISIL pocket in the Khanasser region, as the pocket was created just after the pro-gov't troops seized control over the section of the highway running from Ithriya to Rasafeh. According to a report, some 50 points are fully surrounded by Syrian army troops as aircraft are providing non-stop back up for ground troops in the area to disperse the remaining Takfiri terrorists. According to another report, the group's leadership have turned down a demand by their fighters to retreat from Aleppo, ordering them to fight to the death and encouraging the use of suicide bombers to slow down the Syrian Army troops' rapid advances.
