Source: Xinhua| 2019-06-01 21:18:05|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Syrian army shows C-4 explosives in the Yarmouk Basin in the southern province of Daraa, June 1, 2019. The Syrian army on Saturday showed to media outlets a large amount of C-4 explosives they found in the southern province of Daraa. An estimated four tons of C-4 explosives were found in the Yarmouk Basin area in the countryside of Daraa, the army said, adding the rebels hid the explosives ahead of their defeat in the province last year. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)

DARAA, Syria, June 1 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army on Saturday showed to media outlets a large amount of C-4 explosives they found in the southern province of Daraa.

An estimated four tons of C-4 explosives were found in the Yarmouk Basin area in the countryside of Daraa, the army said, adding the rebels hid the explosives ahead of their defeat in the province last year.

During a visit to the Yarmouk Basin earlier in the day upon the invitation of the Syrian army, packs of seized explosives were seen laid on the ground.

A military officer told reporters that the army made the discovery as a result of a precise inspection and with the help of local people.

"Through the precise security inspections by the Counter-Terrorism Unit in the Syrian army and in cooperation with local people ... a large quantity of highly explosive materials of the C-4 were found ... in the Yarmouk Basin area which had been controlled by the Islamic State (IS) group," he said on condition of anonymity.

According to the officer, the rebels had used the C-4 explosives to create improvised missiles to target residential areas in the southern region during the war.

"This achievement comes as part of the cleansing by the competent authorities in the areas that had been controlled by the extremist and terror groups and were later liberated by the Syrian army," the officer said.

"Those weapons were used in targeting safe areas and civilians in the southern region to cause the most destruction to the properties of the citizens," he added.

As the birthplace of the Syrian war that erupted in 2011, Daraa is both symbolically and militarily significant for the Syrian army which won a big victory by recapturing the province from the rebels in 2018.