DAMASCUS, (SANA)_The Interior Ministry said that the competent authorities killed big numbers of terrorists and caught many others in Douma, Harasta, Saqba, Hammourieh and Kfar Batna in Damascus countryside over the past three days.

The Ministry said in a statement on Monday that the competent authorities discovered a number of hideouts that the terrorist groups used for manufacturing explosives and incarcerating kidnapped citizens, in addition to huge amounts of weapons and explosives.

The authorities are chasing the terrorists who remain at large.

The Ministry said that this operation comes to fulfill the state's duty in enforcing law and ending the state of chaos that the terrorist groups sought to foment, indicating that it came in response to appeals by citizens and workers in the Eastern suburbs of al-Ghoutta in Damascus countryside calling upon law-enforcement forces to interfere to restore safety and stability.

The armed groups have repeatedly brushed aside the Syrian government's warnings that tampering with security and stability won't be tolerated.

Armed terrorist groups in Damascus countryside, equipped with up-to-date weapons including US and Israeli-made ones, committed killings and kidnappings against civilians, blew up explosive devices and vandalized private and public properties.

M. Ismael