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Following the liberation of the Mintar hill and Khirbet Saman, the Tiger Forces and the 5th Assault Corps entered the small village of Buwaida controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda).
According to pro-government sources, government forces successfully pushed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham members to retreat from the area. Clashes were also reported in the area northeast of Buwaida.
However, the gains of government forces in the area still have to be confirmed.
You can find a more detailed look at the government forces’ operation in northern Hama here: LINK
An optimistik look at the ongoing government advance (Buwaida, Tell Mantar, the Gharbal checkpoint and Tell Syriatell are allegedly captured) [map source]:
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If they take Tel Huwayr – next stop Morek and front door to salient shut!!!
Halfaya situation is finished . The town will be captured no matter what the rebel do . Now SAA must go to Morek,Kafr Zita and if it is possible Sheykouhn . BTW the rebels can do some strange decision . Send reinforcements from South and West Aleppo to Hama . This is not very smart .
Makes one wonder why they place so much emphasis on the Hama front and not on the Aleppo front. If they really wanted to they can still rain down artillery and rocket hell on the residents of Aleppo. The frontline there is much closer then with Hama. So why are they so hell bent on holding this vulnerable pocket?
I think it was to give the “moderate” rebel militias the impression that HTS could stand up against the SAA and by joining their ranks, their united militias could overwhelm them.
It was reported that HTS was asking for reinforcements so those militias in the north must of been the only ones willing to let some go. The others may be leery of reducing their strength due to the SAA being nearby or having rival rebel groups around them that they occasionally fight with.
Well done lads !
Considering this is being achieved in so little time this is really an interesting development! This can help draw optimistic conclusions about a potential attack on Idlib. Well done!
I suspect the SAA will wheel some units NE and East to clear out the SE corner of Idlib and eastern Hama before heading north to Aleppo so they can secure more highway routes to the city.
As a qualified arm chair general looking at the map I’d say forget Halfaya, advance towards Latamina, Morek and Kafr Zita instead. If they do that the headchoppers in Halfaya will either have to evacuate to avoid become encircled, or stay and become just that.
There must be something there that both sides want real bad. RR yards? Flour mills? Food processing plants?
The area does have a lot of good farmland. Looking at Wikimapia, it looks like Halfaya can be isolated by SAA taking the river crossing at Hissa village (solid land bridge). Maybe the Jihadist are all ready fleeing the city!
Check points south of Morek reportedly taken – told you ;-D
Good Job SAA/Russia. Push further to the Idlib frontier, fortify your defense and send reinforcements to try to cut off FSA advance through the dessert along Jordanian border. And please don’t forget about Deraa.