MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/. Syrian army units, in cooperation with a Russian groping, eliminated 20 militants and destroyed 30 hideouts belonging to illegal armed groups during a special operation, Rear Admiral Oleg Gurinov, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said on Wednesday.

"As part of a special operation to find, block and neutralize terrorist groups operating in the southern provinces of the Syrian Arab Republic, joint detachments of the Syrian army in cooperation with a Russian grouping carried out reconnaissance and search operations in the northern and northeastern areas of the white desert in the Homs province. Twenty militants, nine arms and ammunition caches and 30 hideouts of illegal armed groups were destroyed," he said.