Late on November 20, heavy clashes were reported in two fronts of the al-Zawiya Mount in the southern countryside of Syria’s Idlib.
Opposition sources said heavy artillery strikes by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) targeted a number of positions in the al-Zawiya Mount.
Soon after the strikes, a commando unit of the SAA attempted to infiltrate militants’ positions north of the government-held town of Milaja in the southern part of al-Zawiya. The infiltration attempt was repelled by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.
Later, a second SAA unit attempted to advance near the town of Fatterah in the exact same area. The unit clashed with militants of Ansar al-Tawhid, which is also linked to al-Qaeda.
Click to see full-size map. Source: (@Suriyakmaps) on Twitter, Via Google Maps – TerraMetrics
According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, both sides sustained losses in the clashes near Milaja and Fatterah.
On March 5, Russia and Turkey agreed on a ceasefire in Greater Idlib. Nevertheless, the situation in the region is still far from stable. The militants are launching attacks against government forces at an alarming rate.
The army’s infiltration attempts were likely “reconnaissance by fire,” a tactic used to uncover the enemies’ firing posts and fortifications. This means that a large ground operation by the SAA and its allies may be around the corner.
It was the Russian backed 5th army corps 25th division doing the unsuccessful infiltrating, and they got more than they bargained for twice, they were sent home packing on both occasions, which means the terrorists have set up adequate fortifications and surveillance systems to repel small scale incursions. Ansar al-Tawhid are totally opposed to Russian Turkish cooperation, so they’re most likely the people responsible for the attacks against the Russian/Turkish patrols on the M4 highway, or at the least guilty of assisting, so they’re totally anti Russian and kill them whenever they can. And they’ve also had problems with HTS, their links to Isis puts them at odds with HTS despite them being allied to HTS via the TIP and NFL, so many of Ansar al-Tawhid fighters are rotting in HTS jails right now, and HTS has arrested quite a few more lately. So their links to HTS are accurate but calling them allies or friends is a stretch too far, their mutual connection is through the TIP Uighurs and the moderate opposition NFL forces. And this article states HTS repelled the SAA incursion when it occurred and that’s correct, they did repel one of the 2 different incursions, but on the second incursion it was the moderate opposition NFL forces who repelled the SAA attack, and now the Turks have just rushed in and established a new OB post right in the middle of that disputed location. Earlier this year Assad released a statement concerning the areas where the SAA incursions have been taking place, he said he wanted to secure the whole area so he could increase food production in this very fertile region, that means he has to clean out the terrorist before he can do it, so I suspect SF is right about future operations in this area.
But that’s not the big news, the big news is the Turks are bombarding the Russian controlled areas of Tell Rif At, and they’ve been doing it for a few days now, and also mounting ground operations as well. I wonder why the Turks are allowed to attack the Menagh airbase where SAA personnel are stationed, there aren’t any YPG or ALF forces there so why are the Turks bombarding the base, and more importantly why are the Russians letting the Turks do it. There used to be joint Russian/Turkish patrols in this region but they must’ve stopped those patrols during the Turkish assaults, you can’t patrol the streets when artillery shells are falling all around you.
more CIA propaganda
How does my comment help the CIA or America in any way, you do realize the US is just as eager as the Russians are to implement resolution 2254, so in that respect they’re all on the same page and Assad and myself are on another. Have you ever heard one negative comment from the US concerning Russia’s commitment to implement the resolution, no you haven’t, and that’s because the US are 110% behind the Russians and their political solution, but I’m not and neither is Assad. So in truth my comment isn’t at all pro CIA, pro Russian, or pro anybody else, except for pro Assad and Syria, but you’re convinced it must be a comment that somehow helps the Americans, what a laugh, I stick up for Syria so it definitely has to be a pro US comment. Tell me genius, just exactly how does my comment benefit the CIA or America in any way, tell me exactly how it does.