On March 27, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF) further advanced against ISIS terrorists in the countryside of the ancient city of Palmyra.
According to Hezbollah’s media wing in Syria, the SAA and the NDF captured the Marbat Antar Mountain, the Dhalil mountain and the Hid Mountain north and northwest of Palmyra.
At the same time, government forces don’t develop a large advance in the direction of the Arak town east of Palmyra. However, clashes in are ongoing for control over checkpoints in the area.
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Few more hills and its time to move East, if Hama-Homs border is not a priority, you just can’t stay in Palmyra, the town itself has no strategic value if you don’t use it for further attacks in any direction that you like!
Palmyra has rich oil and gas fields, which are mostly needed for the continuation of war against terrorists. Arak is one of them
But what is the point in having these fields when you can’t reach Deir Ezzor? The best defensive units of SAA are in Deir Ezzor and if you cant reach them, you can’t secure the country properly!
I do not have any military knowledge, but if it took SAA 2 months to reach Palmyra again (December to February), it seems like impossible to reach Deir Ezzor, unless you receive reinforcements from other fronts, like East Ghouta. So, i believe that first we will see another rebel-terrorist pocket be cleaned and then we will see another advance of SAA
ISIS is busy trying to hold onto the Raqqah front, now is the time to get there, that is why Al-qaeda attacked Hama and Damascus. Before these attacks, SAA had about 5000 soilders on the Pamlyra front and landed 500 in Deir Ezzor, they currently have about 3000 in Palmyra area, you are right though, to get to Deir Ezzor, you need far more numbers to cover the flanks and would be easier if there was a second front.