The development comes as clashes continue between Syrian troops and foreign-sponsored armed gangs in the northwestern city of Aleppo. The security forces have also foiled infiltration attempts by terrorists from Jordan, reports say.
In Aleppo, there has been fierce fighting in the southwestern neighborhoods of Salahuddin and Hamdaniya and the eastern neighborhood of Sakhour. The Syrian army began a major operation on Saturday from the southwestern outskirts of Aleppo to clear the city of armed gangs.
On Sunday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said, "We believe that all the anti-Syrian forces have gathered in Aleppo to fight the government… and they will definitely be defeated.”
Muallem made the remarks in a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Tehran. Meanwhile, nearly 150 militants were killed during clashes with Syrian troops in the suburbs of the western city of Homs on Sunday.
The anti-Syria Western regimes have been calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, but Russia and China remain strongly opposed to the Western drive to oust Assad.
