AMMAN, Syria, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Syria said Sunday the authorities have killed three suspected terrorists during clashes on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.
The official Syrian news agency, SANA, said anti-terrorist units clashed earlier in the day with an armed "takfiri terrorist group" in the town of Kafr Batna outside the capital.
Takfiris are extremist Islamic militants who label other Muslims as apostates, issuing religious fatwas, or edicts, to kill others.
SANA said the group was planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Damascus and its suburbs.
It added an exchange of fire lasted for 30 minutes, in which "the leader and two of his aides were killed."
The news agency said that weapons, ammunition and explosives were found and seized in an apartment rented by the "terrorist group," as well as documents that "incite terrorist acts."
In the past year, Syria said it has been involved in several such raids against suspected Islamic terrorists, most of whom have been killed in armed clashes with the security forces.
