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On April 22, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) started its advance in the northern Hama countryside attacking militant positions in the area north of Suran, and west and southwest of Taybat al-Imam.
So far the SAA had captured:
- the Syriatel checkpoint north of Suran;
- Tell al-Mantar east of Suran;
- Tell Nasiriyah, Nasiriyah and Zor Alubadi south and southwest of Taybat al-Imam.
Government forces also reached Buweida village northwest of Suran. Thus, the SAA is approaching the strategic town of Halfaya from three sides now.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) attempted to counter-attack near the village of al-Buweida and the Syriatel checkpoint, but the attempt failed.
The “moderate opposition” group, Idlib’s Free Army, sent reinforcements to the Hama countryside in order to support HTS-led forces.
Members of Idlib’s Free Army targeted what it claimed to be a T-90 tank and a TOS-1A multiple rocket launcher in Taybat al-Imam. Instead, the released video shows the tank is a T-62M and the rocket launcher is a Grad multiple rocket launcher system. Furthermore, there are no TOS-1A systems deployed in the town of Taybat al-Imam, according to a source from SAA troops deployed there. The video also showed the failure of the TOW operator to hit the two targets. The missile hit the embankment and the tank managed to move back.
HTS and the Free Syrian Army appear to be spreading more and more false news from the countryside of Hama in order to hide their military failure in the area.
The Syrian and Russian Air Force continued bombing positions and gatherings of militants in Halfaya, Lataminah, Ma’arkaba and Al-Lahayaas.
The SAA is going to storm the town of Halfaya and to advance towards the strategic town of Morek very soon, according to pro-government sources.
Good progress by SAA! Looks like the Jihadist will have to withdrawal from Halfaya. Masasinah will be taken soon, and the escape corridor is getting narrow. Hopefully HTS will be under fire on the road leading to Latamanah. The time to decide is now! I’m hoping the Jihadist will become road kill.
By bringing in superior numbers and a lot of early bombardment the Syrians are finally able to overcome Al-Qaeda (HTS, etc.) with their effective American TOW missiles, while reducing costs to themselves. Will HTS pull back to make their stand in Idlib governorate, waiting to see if the SAA and allies keep coming or make a strong stand here in the Hama governorate?
With a winning strategy I don’t see why the SAA and allies wouldn’t keep going. Why allow Al-Qaeda to refresh and rearm? Syria has to address Idlib eventually, why not now? Can they leave Deir-Ezzor alone for awhile longer?
The terrorist media seem to have been trained by Al Jazeera, CNN and the BBC. All three Western propaganda outlets News Reports these days owe more to Walt Disney than Walter Cronkite.
I agree. Someone has devoted significant resources for this type of production. And still losing.
It isn’t just halfaya that is under threat of encirclement anymore. It now looks like lataminah is under threat too. Lataminah is in the middle of fertile farmland and would help make syria less dependent on food aid.
You have to wonder what saudis and turks are planning. Their usual pattern is to relieve pressure where they are losing with a strong new offensive somewhere else. a new assault on aleppo is the most likely target. No doubt they pulled together a new force of recruits after the Sarin gas attack.
Erdogan is talking with putin. May indicate turkey plans to take an active role inside syria again. Erdogan is a bizarre man.
this should be cited as a negative example for the expression “bang for the buck”. But there’s still thousands of people that seeing this vid actually believe that they destroyed a T-90 and a TOS mrl.
Good job, boys ! Time to grill the jihadists
At this rate, the SAA will be in Khan Shaykhun in a short time. Then, they can do their own investigation and determine what really caused the chemical attack.
The conclusion of the writer is right – one has to be blind not to see that the T-62 has moved AFTER the alleged hit on it, as during the second missile launch it is much closer to the rocket launcher and has backed off too since a much smaller part of the turret is visible. It’s also very clear that the second missile hits the embankment before the rocket launcher.
The Syrian Army has very likely learnt its lessons in the course of the war on how to protect its vehicles from the kinds of ATGM employed by the sand-diggers.
Also, the sand-diggers haven’t learned much, as they keep producing vids where their TOW missiles end up, that is, digging holes in the sand.