A correspondent for Iran’s al-Alam Arabic-language news channel has been injured by foreign-backed militants’ gunfire in the western Syrian city of Homs, Press TV reports.

Rua al-Ali was wounded on Saturday while accompanying the Syrian army advances in al-Khaldiyeh neighborhood, director of al-Alam office in Damascus, Hossain Mortada, said.

Mortada also said that al-Ali was shot in her thigh, adding she was taken to a hospital where she had a surgery.

The Syrian army launched a mop-up operation against militants in Homs in late June to recapture areas held by militants. Syrian troops have already cleansed the northern neighborhoods of al-Khaldiyeh and Jouret el-Shayah.

On Saturday, the Syrian government forces captured Khalid bin Walid Mosque in al-Khaldiyeh, which was used as a bastion for the foreign-backed militants.

Scores of militants were killed in clashes with Syrian troops as they tried to infiltrate into areas controlled by army soldiers.

The unrest in Syria erupted in March 2011. A very large number of the militants operating inside Syria are foreign nationals.

According to reports, the West and its regional allies - especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey - are supporting the militants inside Syria.

On July 25, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said more than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria since the outbreak of foreign-sponsored militancy in the country.