Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) claimed on December 8 that its terrorists had repelled a new attack by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in northern Lattakia.
According to the al-Qaeda-affiliated group, army units attempted to advance in the vicinity of the town of Kabani in the morning. However, Syrian soldiers were pushed back following several hours of heavy clashes.
A source in HTS told the terrorist group’s news network Iba’a that 14 Syrian soldiers were killed or injured in the clashes. Furthermore, a battle tank of the SAA was allegedly destroyed.
Click to see full-size map. Source: (@Suriyakmaps) on Twitter.
Last month, the SAA launched a similar attack in northern Lattakia. Despite initial advance, army units were forced to retreat as a result of the fierce resistance of HTS and its allies.
The rough terrain of northern Lattakia plays in favor of HTS and its allies. The terrorists created a complex network of tunnels and fortifications in the region during the last two years, taking advantage of the successive ceasefires.
The Houthis could probably offer some advice.
Houthi: Why don’t you kill the head-choppers in Kabani? SAA: They’re all dug in and have tunnels everywhere Houthi: So go around from behind SAA: We can’t – they’re on the edge of the mountain and hold the territory below. Houthi: Uh, yeah… and so…? Here – hold my tea and watch this. We’ll need a bit of khat for our trouble and a spam can of 762x54R – the Soviet factory 188 sniperski stuff. Grandpa’s 91/30 loves it. The Romanian crap we took from the Saudis is useless. Those stupid monkeys got ripped off… again. Houthi: [to pals] Hey, Abdel, why don’t you and the kid bring that damn cannon of yours along and use up some of the 23mm ammo. I’m tired of humping that stuff around all day. It’s too heavy. Besides, everyone loves the flying head-chopper routine. That always cracks me up!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d49facbd7714640f4ad9d562ae6e840d769c7f8aa98125e8b31c14af4e4c660a.jpg
The Houthis are real experts when it comes to desert and mountain warfare.
Let’s just cassette bomb them, then use white phosphorus, that will yake rats out of theirs tunnels. And let’s start carpet bomb them with some heavy ordinances like 900kg bombs. SAA, we need to advance bit by bit, unyil get some vilages and strong points, jusy like that hill several days ago, just there in Latakia.