Illustrative image
On December 9, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF) launched a surprise attack against Hayat Tahrir al-ham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) from its positions in northern Hama and captured the villages of Umm Khazem and Balil in southern Idlib, according to pro-government sources.
Five fighters of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) were captured by the Syrian soldiers during the clashes in the two villages, according to reports.
The SAA lost all of its positions in the southern Idlib countryside when HTS and its allies captured the strategic Abu Dali village north of the villages of Umm Kazem and Balil on October 8.
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Meanwhile, Syrian pro-government and oppositions sources reported that Russian warplanes conducted more than 80 airstrike at HTS positions in northern Hama, southern Idlib and southwestern Aleppo in the last 24 hours.
The Russian airstrikes are likely a part of the ongoing preparations of the SAA and its allies to launch a large-scale military operation to capture the Hama-Aleppo highway and all the villages around it. The elite Syrian Tiger Forces will spearhead the attack that will begin in the upcoming weeks, according to pro-government sources.
Time for HTS ( reliable ally of US establishment) to get some. Generals may be declared victory over ISIS but that didn’t mean that RuAF is not keeping its work up. Close to 100 sorties each day are reported from 8th october. I will tell you one thing – this is unthinkable combat flight rate for Nato air forces and that again shows that raw numbers (nato planes in US led coalition disposal) do not represent full picture.
indeed NATO planes = huge waste of super expensive and super inefficient planes… the worst being of course the slow F35 JSF flying fat pigs…
They are as effective as they want to be. Can you remember how US coalition air force murdered over 100 Syrian soldiers just in one air raid. That’s pretty impressive performance and it’s crime too .
The HTS Jihadist trash in Idlib will be in a shit load of trouble very soon. Considering the distance to the airbase, good intel for targets, fast turn around time for SU25 and others, etc. :)
Agreed, it’s time for the Al-Nusra boys in Syria to feel the power of the SU-25, this little fucker broke ISIS back and gave them the last shot in the head.
Hmmm, an announcement or a decoy? We’ll see.