Sputnik/ Michael Alaeddin
On Tuesday, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF) launched a large military operation in an attempt to split the militant-held area in the Daraa province into two separate parts.
Initially, the SAA and the NDF captured the Daraa Air Defense Base and the Dahdah Hill, but then government forces were pushed to retreat under a pressure from the joint militant forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda).
According to available data, government forces lost at least 1 battle tank during the clashes. Another governemnt battle tank was also reportedly destroyed by militants, but this has to be confirmed.
The SAA and the NDF also pushed in the direction of the Grain warehouses but were not able to make notable gains.
According to local sources, clashes are still ongoing in the Daraa countryside.
A pro-militant map showing the situation in the area:
Click to see the full-size map
Based on another source FSA was able take back the Daraa Air Defense Base and the Dahdah Hill
SAA should have built up this Daraa Governate force with Attack Helicopters. Stage their forces south and toward the east. Start pushing into the city….getting Israel/US focus there. Then break out into FSA turf near Jordan border in Suweida….take more of that. I’d wager the FSA in Suweida are low numeric and not coordinated to hold against SAA advance backed by airpower. Possibility to cut the Suweida FSA west of Al Tanf right to the Jordan border and create A Cauldron where FSA will panic. Problem with Daraa city is the SAA advertised their intentions and we’re long in getting the opp Going. ..giving Israel and US time to zero in everything and prep the defence to counter The SAA advances. Knowing Putin’s soft glove towards Israel. …I wouldn’t even bother with Daraa right now, As Lavrov is already giving Israel more of Syria Golan in a safe zone something deal. So ya….Forces enough to hold what is….the rest should be sweeping into FSA turf Suweida And North East towards Deir Ezzor.
The SAA needs to defend and use smaller less ambitious pushes in the south from Daara suweida would be the best place to achieve this due to the lack of Coalition forces in the area . The concentration should be on securing the way to Deir Ez zoir and securing the oil and gas fields and closing the pockets and none of these chickenshit over ambitious assaults in the south , would have been better to make 2 feints and 1 actual assault . Then turn a second feint into an assault creating a pocket and then closing it .
This past few weeks saw huge area advances by SAA…because ISUS just wasn’t The numeric in the field or able to bring flanking action to blunt advances. I’m thinking the FSA Suweida/Jordan border west of Al Tanf is just that too. Some Sat coverage with Drone recon and Attack Helicopters could plow through The ARVN FSA…who are not the fighters ISUS regulars are. There is some risk…..but that’s when Commanders can seize the moment. My ideas are set against reality that Russia and Syria have limited airpower in Syria to bust out in an opportune moment. Often they build up to operations and it’s nearly obvious to US where they are headed. The Group that cut in and raced to Iraq Border showed initiative .. Now that is Big Morale boost for Syrians,Iraqis and Iranians.
Unfortunately the offensive has failed. This news should be updated. 2 tanks destroyed and 2 tanks seized by HTS.3 more SAA serviceman from 5th Corps captured by Bunian Marsous
Unfortunately these Arab armies shall never learn the art of military combat. So weak. A properly capable armed forces would be able to rout these crumby Jihadists.
A properly capable armed forces? take you brain out of your ass you so wannabe military expert. it’s not like the SAA has a million men available to defend their country.
lol
The crumby jihadists benefit from command centers in Jordan where NATO officers are advising them.
True.
the command centers are IN syria along the syrian/jordanian border. this is the area where the drones have been shot down. there was a map here the other day that showed the area. of course i can’t find it now or would have given a link.
How are they communicating with them?
and syria benefits from command center of russia, whis is SUUUPERIOOOR!!!!!
They were actually backed by Jordanian, Israel and US forces in the area ,wasn’t really just them alone .
tales
Oh really? Well please enlighten us, mister grand admiral thrawn, with ur ingenius strategems
Syria should have to keep defensive strategy in Daraa, Bollan Heights and in other terrorists pockets because all are occupied by Ezrahel. At the moment just focus on Deir Ezzor. If Syria succeeded in liberating Deir Ezzor then remaining parts will be liberated itself. Trump and Badanyahu efforts to take whole Syria from Syrian nation or divide into several small parts to make it weak.
the rebels were gaining momentum, that is the purpose of the counter attack, to break the momentum.
Yes but this area is much closer to Damascus, the capital :/ I agree they just need to fend off the rats in this area for now, and once SAA puts problems in the east to bed, they can focus on this area with full force again :)))
1 – there is no REGIME, just a democratically elected presidential government and member of UN 2 – there are no OPPOSITION FORCES, just foreign sponsored jihadist terrorists, killing syrian people. so do not always act as IS propaganda mill
democracy is only about votings. can coexists with slavery – ancient athens, usa, with genocide – usa, people democraties in formes soviet bloc, china, cuba, north korea, etc.
the presence or absence of human rights show, whether is regime or free land. syria is democratic regime.
you say that ancient-athens had no democracy?are you serious?you mix the soviet bloc with democracy?
Send Tiger forces to fix the problem !!!
Where is russia air support ? just a little bit e here a little bite there aand so on….. it does not look really serious. To win this war, Syria need more air support from Russia, and when I means more I really means MORE.
they bombed, too
I love it, new pocket, hyperbaric bombs for all terrorists.
from the maps, the SAA better watch out for the IAF in this area.
It seems they are trying the pincer strategy which is good, but I wish all SAA infantry were as good as tiger forces
Yes but after such a long war it’s unlikely. The Syrians and their allies aren’t stupid so what’s the meaning? They are forcing the US head-chopping, heart-eating rapers to defend their gains all over Syria, while the Sultan’s forces are mostly quiet. We’ll soon see if the Syrian-Russian air defences are really going to fight back.
Hey the SAA and allies have been playing defense for far too long in this war. They are now playing offense when they decided to stop losing in the beginning of the year, around February. No more embarrassments. Who is this sultan u refer to? Er dog an?
‘Tis the man hisself. ;o)
I think he has allied with Russia, Syria, Iran and is now
This week yes but next week, who knows? ;o)
haha true but he has been staying on their side now for a while now hopefully he doesnt flip flop again
Focusing on Kurds rather than SAA
They took the air defense battalion, unforunately the jihadists took back and government forces suffered hudge losses.
Israelis may be scum, and yet have more-or-less legit security interests. If I were them, I also wouldn’t want (pro-)Iranian forces next door to the Golan. So then it should be just Syrians, supported by Russia. If the latter is just unwilling to confront Israel, indeed things seem a bit hopeless in the south-west.
Sigh… at the very beginning of the Russian intervention, all the news was that Russian diplomacy had brought Israel mostly on board. Since then, like everyone else, the Israelis saw that Russia is a bit of a paper tiger, who never exacts a price for transgressions. What did the Kremlin think would happen in the face of their passivity? It’s the Middle East after all. All actors are back to playing their own favorite game, and order has not been restored.
Clearly the zionists are scum and clearly they don’t. They shouldn’t be there and won’t last forever, the Syrians will get their land back, same as the Palestinians.
It’s a point of view. Though the question is always how far back you go: should we restore Europe to a pre-Attila state? Then again, if one actually wants to win anything, shouldn’t we take these things one at a time? I wouldn’t mind at all to slap the Israelis like the spoiled children they are, and get across: no you aren’t that special, no you can’t have it all, and yes, your security is linked to security for others. But if you want to improve someone’s behavior, letting them fear that their existence is threatened may not be the way to go about it.
Sophistry