- Clashes are ongoing in the vicinity of Kafr Nabuda. Militants seek to recapture the town;
- A brief Syrian Arab Army (SAA) push towards Habit was repelled by militants;
- The SAA captured several positions south of Kabanah;
- On May 8, militants once again shelled Hmeimim Airbase;
- Airstrikes hit targets near Kabanah, al-Lataminah, Kafr Nabuda and others.
Click to see the full-size image
Looks like Qalaat al-Madiq and few nearby villages have also been liberated!
Hmm, unless some new fronts open up soon I suspect the aims of this offensive is local and not retake all of Idlib. Which would explain why Erdogan is draping himself in silence. In the south I suspect the ultimate goal could be Khan Shaykhun, that’s my gut feeling, in the northwest the goal is probably to safeguard the Russian airbase and push the headchoppers out of Latakia and retake Jisr Ash Shugur.
Maybe Barba-Papa is right – strong rumor that this offensive is limited to pushing back enemy positions and forward bases to the inner perimeter only of the agreed Sochi protocols of 21 SEP 2018 – leaving the Turkish OP (actually strongpoints) in position , untouched. Map attached shows original agreed locations of Turkish & Russian OPs,six Iranian observer teams later added, mainly in NE closer to Halab (Aleppo) city. We will see, but unless SAA advances north beyond Khan Sheikhoun and east to Jisr al-Shughour this is NOT the big push to liberate Idlib province. I do fear that a limit of advance will be imposed along the 30 Northing
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2c28a69437b69612703f09c6a11bc2d1a2f5f2c831e55788fd7a7a4e001c2b95.jpg