On December 8, ISIS terrorists launched multiple offensives against Syrian government forces near Palmyra and made gains south and north of the city.
On December 9, clashes continued in the area with army troops, supported by the government’s airpower, were successfully repelling further ISIS attempts to deploy closer to the ancient city.
By now, ISIS has failed to achieve its main goal to isolate Palmyra and to cut off the Homs-Palmyra highway.
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The situation in Palmyra kinda looks like shrinked down, flipped over, Kursk salient.
And then some ?
AlMohur gas field has fallen according to some sources about 45 mins ago. SF might not want to admit this but some gas fields have fallen to ISIS which is still a major blow.
Lesson from playing chess I guess. You have to be ready for the unexpected. ISIS is directly or indirectly manipulated by powers that are angered by imminent Aleppo fall. Attack forces will be required to reverse the ISIS gains new corps setup is not ready yet which means either Tigers or Desert Hawks will need to be redeployed.
In the meantime new surprise attack should be expected in Hama and Latakia fronts to delay any Syrian plans for Idlib or Raqqa.
The “unknown” aircraft attack on Turk forces near Al Bab is played by west as Iranian planes and eventually will lead to another twist in the game.
All this to have a “legacy” before new faces show up after Jan 20, 2017.