Damascus, SANA – The arrival of the Syrian Arab Army and its allies at the Iraqi border and their control of vast swathes of the Syrian Badia form a strategic turning point in the war on terrorism, the General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces said on Saturday.

“Units of the Syrian Arab Army, in cooperation with the allied forces, completed on Friday evening the first stage of the military operations in the Syrian Badia and were able to reach the border with the friendly Iraq northeast of al-Tanf,” the Command said in a statement.

The arrival at the border, the statement said, was achieved after controlling a large number of positions and strategic points inside the Badia over 20 square kilometers since operations first started south and east of Palmyra, where hundreds of ISIS terrorists were killed.

“This achievement is a strategic turning point in the war on terrorism and a springboard to expand military operations in the Badia and along the border with the friendly Iraq,” added the statement.

The new advance, the army’s Command said, also tightens the noose around the remaining ISIS groups in the region and cuts off supply routes of the terror organization in several directions.

The Command went on saying that this achievement by the army and its allies stresses their ability and determination to defeat terrorism and affirms that they are the “only effective force in fighting terrorism.”

The Command reiterated its warning of the dangers of the repeated attacks launched by the so-called “international coalition” and its attempts to hinder the advance of the Syrian Arab Army and its allies in their war on terrorism.

The Command concluded its statement by renewing its resolve to continue the war against ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra and the terrorist groups linked to them until restoring security and stability to the entire Syrian territory.

H. Said