Syria's defense minister has visited
army units to the east of Homs city, state television reported on
Thursday, in what appeared to be the latest in a series of
morale-boosting trips by senior officials to military outposts.
A general view shows the damage at the old souk of the old city of Homs June 3, 2015.
The government has lost large areas of
land in the last two months to insurgents including the al Qaeda-linked
Nusra Front and the Islamic State group that last month seized the
ancient city of Palmyra in Homs province.
General Fahad Jassim al-Freij, who is
armed forces deputy commander as well as defense minister, told the
troops in the eastern Homs countryside he was confident in their ability
to defend Syria from what he called "terrorism and its supporters".
Homs lies 150 km (90 miles) to the west
of the Palmyra, also known as Tadmur. The Syrian army and militia
fighting alongside it have also lost swathes of territory in the
northwestern province of Idlib to an alliance of insurgents including
the Nusra Front.
State media reports did not give the
exact location of Freij's visit. A video showed vehicles driving on a
dusty road through a desert landscape and Freij addressing troops
outside.
It is at least the second high-level
visit to Homs since the fall of Palmyra. Prime Minister Wael al-Halaki
has also been, visiting a gas plant that is a major source of fuel for
government-held areas.
Homs governor Talal al-Barazi voiced
confidence in the military, saying he expected it to retake Palmyra,
also known as Tadmur, at "the appropriate time" and that it would win
back land all the way to Suknah town to the east.
"I believe that all Syrians in areas
near to the frontlines with the gunmen are concerned, and the concern
grows as (gunmen) get near a place, because this criminal monster causes
worry for any civilian in any place," he told Reuters Television in an
interview in Homs city.
But he added: "There is no collapse, no
psychological defeat." He said the army had decided against fighting
Islamic State in Palmyra itself "to avoid civilian casualties and to
protect the ancient city".
Palmyra was the first time that the
hardline Islamic State group had captured a city directly from the
Syrian military and allied combatants.
The military has also been pushed back
by an insurgent alliance including al Qaeda's Syria wing in northwestern
Syria which has brought them closer to Latakia, Assad's ancestral
homeland.
In the northeast, Syrian troops and
militia battled on Wednesday to repel an Islamic State attack on the
city of Hasaka and a Kurdish official said the government forces may not
be able to hold off the jihadists.
Source: Reuters
