The situation is developing in northwestern Hama where the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies launched an advance on positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Jaish al-Izza and other militant groups on May 6.
After the start of the advance, army troops seized several points north and northwest of Kernaz including al-Bana, al-Janabira and Tell Ottman.
By the evening, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham-led forces had launched a counter-attack attempting to recapture the lost positions. In the morning of April 7, clashes continued.
The points captured by the SAA on May 6 remain contested.
Pro-militant sources released multiple conflicting reports urging that from 20 to 80 pro-government fighters were killed. Most of these claims are not based on any evidence. In own turn, pro-government sources say that up to 20 militants were killed. This number also remains unconfirmed.
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Not much newsworthy stuff seems to be happening right now. Then again I remember from the East Ghouta operation that this also seemed to be the case every day and that all the big reports came in in the late afternoon.
So far not much attention seems to get paid to this operation in the international MSM. Not even a peep from Erdogan.
Dat klopt helaas.
Not much newsworthy stuff? You should go here: https://isis.liveuamap.com Daesh are still blowing the hell out of Syria on a daily basis it would seem!
You have just beat me to it, exact wording as mine was supposed to be and link copied, pasted by you. Bugger !!!.
Great minds think alike!
Two villages have been taken and a hill top. For a supposedly major offensive that’s not much newsworthy. That implies it was either limited in scope or the Jihadis put up very stiff resistance.
As for ISIS blowing up shit. That happens pretty regularly, its not even news any more.
Erdogan has apperantly agreed to allow the SAA and the russians to start this operation. This was confirmed as after the meeting with russian officials, Erdogan withdrew forces from a observation checkpoint in northern Hama. The casualties are fake, mostly anyway. Sources from Al-Masdar news reported that the SAA lost 21 soldiers in the first wave of attack and 7 militants were killed. After that, the jihadis launched a quick counter-attack and lost 20 fighters and the counter attack was squashed. Isis is still wreacking havoc in central Syria. As I called it before, the SAA should’ve cleared central syria before this operation as we’ve seen many times before that ISIS launches attacks on the SAA every time Syria makes progress elsewhere and they constantly need to redeploy and this prolongs the offensives.
That was the old dynamic. When Jihadis controlled half of Syria and the SAA had to hold a million fronts all at once. Today the SAA only holds two fronts, and ISIS is but a nuisance in the desert. A nuisance that can be still dangerous, but nothing like the force that could launch conventional offensives and fight a NATO military to a standstill.
can SAA troops call in airstrikes, whether syrian or russian, at will?
The more elite formations can call in Russian airstrikes, like the tigers. The other units may have Russian forward air spotters attached to them if needed.