News - Middle East: Syria has strongly rejected media reports that terrorist groups have entered some neighborhoods in the city of Hama as psychological warfare.

The Syrian defense ministry said on Tuesday night that the country’s troops are on the outskirts of the city and are manning their fortified defensive positions.

It added that work is also underway to retake many military sites and towns that armed terrorist groups have entered.

The ministry said Syrian forces continue to strike terrorist groups, their sites, headquarters, warehouses, and convoys in the northern Hama and Idlib countryside, using artillery fire, missiles and joint Syrian-Russian airstrikes.

According to the ministry, joint airstrikes have eliminated at least 200 terrorists, including their foreign leaders, in addition to 12 tanks in Aleppo, Hama and Idlib.

Syrian forces have also shot down more than twenty drones launched by terrorists.

Foreign-backed terrorists led by the Hayat al-Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a surprise assault in the Aleppo and Idlib countryside, overrunning several villages and towns before advancing towards Aleppo on November 27.

However, Syrian forces have halted their progress and are actively working to regain control of the lost territories.

These terrorist organizations aim to undermine the Syrian government’s efforts to restore security and stability amid frequent aggressions from the Israeli regime.

Israel has been a principal supporter of terrorist factions opposing President Bashar al-Assad's democratically elected government since the onset of foreign-backed militancy in Syria in 2011.

 Source: Press TV