On Thursday, they Syrian Ministry of Defense announced that the Syrian Arab Army captured the Tuweiyan gas factory, the Tuweiyan gas field, the Akram gas field, the Husain gas field, the Ghadur gas field and the Tuweiyan station in the northeastern Homs countryside.
Click to see the full-size map
The SAA also captured the Al-Saroukh area 15km north of Sukhnah town in the eastern Homs countryside, according to pro-government sources.
Moreover, the SAA captured 13km of the Ithryah-Tuweiyan-al-Karime road and many strategic heights in the eastern Hama countryside.
According to Syrian Ministry of Defense statement, the SAA destroyed 15 armed vehicles of ISIS and removed dozens of IEDs and mines that was planted in the gas fields.
Meanwhile, Russian and Syrian warplanes conducted dozens of airstrikes against ISIS positions in Ma’adan town in the northwestern Deir Ezzor countryside, according to opposition sources.
Some pro-government sources expected that the SAA will capture all ISIS-held areas in the eastern Hama countryside including the strategic Uqayribat town within days after successfully besieging ISIS in it. However, these expectations may not turn to be real if ISIS members decide to defeat the area till the death.
A plan of the possible SAA advance in the area:
Click to see the full-size map
SAA’s flanking has improved quite well.
The SAA and tribal forces seem to be in trouble in Ma’adan, more information would be cool. The last SF article about Ma’adan mentioned, that ISIS is launching a large counterattack there, but then there was no follow-up.
That front has come to a stagnation.
SAA can reinforce Ma’adan if they choose to overwhelm Daesh on that axis of advance. Once DeZ is liberated, Ma’adan becomes meaningless. They will have to flee to areas in western Iraq where they are safe from attack.
Once these pockets collapse, Ma’adan will be superfluous. Daesh will withdraw to Iraq since PMU is seemingly waging a Phoney War.
With Isis out of Mosul, Iraq now considers Isis negligible. Iraq is preparing for the next war with the Kurds. That’s why sadr was visiting Saudi Arabia.
People outside Iraq forget, in 2014 when Mosul fell to ISIS that it was coordinated with Kurds who simultaneously attacked Kirkuk, which is not part of Kurdistan.
Since then Kurds have ethnically cleansed Kirkuk, claiming it as their own. Further, they grabbed additional Iraqi provinces in the name of fighting Isis.
With Isis defeated, Iraq wants back the three provinces the Iraqi Kurds grabbed (in addition to their own two Kurdish provinces). Especially now when Kurdish Iraq is contemplating a referendum for independence. A declaration that would quickly gain US recognition and military support.
Kurds didn’t attack Kirkuk, nor did they collude with ISIS. Iraqi Army fled the city. All Kurds did was move in to save the city from ISIS. You’re correct about Turks, Arabs and Persians hating Kurds so your predicted future may likely follow the course you outline.
The followup is that Russia is bombing the fuck out of ISIS and SAA control the villages there still.
This is great work by the SAA. That move into Tuwayanan gas field almost cuts that center ISIS “pocket” into to 2 sections! EXCELLENT! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/19f4390a50829580ce711be745f03d64860ee8a12906690568bec58c89ef5513.jpg
Looks like SAA makes some improvements in tactical planning. This latest advances will shrink the front lines substantially and many units, including military hardware can be deploy on other front lines, after the packets are eliminated.
Don’t tell me that the west is after Assad, Russia and Iran who are crushing ISIS. XD.
Basher should be on the phone to Vlad “150 attack helicopters, 50 T-90 tanks a bucketload of Kornet anti-tank systems pretty please with sugar on top”
KUDOS TO THE SAA&ALLIES
Not a bad phone call, seeing that significantly more gas and oil fields are in their hands.
Go baby go!
The Al-Kawm / Taybah / Sukhnah road is till open. Does SAA want ISIS to move east back to Deir Ezzor? Is that part of the SAA plan? It would speed up the collapse of the pockets but make it harder to take Deir Ezzor.