Syrian Rebels Expand Operation To Idlib After Initial Success In Aleppo (Videos)

File image.

Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies on November 28 expanded their large-scale offensive against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), codenamed Operation Deterrence of Aggression, to the southern Idlib countryside after their initial success in the western countryside of Aleppo.

On the first day of the offensive, the militants moving from the Greater Idlib region broke through the defenses of the SAA in the western Aleppo countryside, capturing the 46th Regiment Base as well as over a dozen towns and residential areas, incluing Urm al-Kubra, Anjara, Urm al-Sughra, Sheikh Aqil, Bala, Ajil, Awijil, al-Hawtah, Tal al-Dabaa, al-Zaatari Factory, Hayr Darkal, Qubtan al-Jabal, al-Saloum, al-Ma’arri Association, al-Sa’diyah Association, al-Qasimiyah, Kafr Bisin, Hawr, Aznaz, and Basraton.

While the militants’ advance in the western Aleppo countryside slowed down, their new push in the southern Idlib countryside appears to be going according to plan.

So far, the towns of Dadikh, Kafr Batikh, and Sheikh Ali, which overlook the strategic M5 highway, have all reportedly fallen into the hands of HTS and its allies, including the Turkistan Islamic Party, Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad and cluster of Turkey-backed armed factions.

The SAA is currently bringing reinforcements, including units from the elite 25th Special Mission Forces Division, to the fronts in the western Aleppo countryside and the southern countryside of Idlib. Warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Syrian Arab Air Force have been also targeting militants in these areas non-stop since the start of the offensive.

In its first comment on the militant’s offensive, the Syrian Ministry of Defense said in a statement on November 28 that Syrian troops had inflicted “heavy losses” on HTS and its allies in cooperation with “friendly forces.”

At least 65 militants of HTS, 18 others from Turkey-backed factions and some 49 Syrian troops have been killed since the start of the offinsive, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It is important to note that the London-based pro-opposition monitoring group was accused in the past of inflating SAA losses.

HTS and its allies are relying mainly on suicide attackers, moving quickly on pickup trucks or motorcycles. The militants have been also using drones to collect intelligence, or conduct strikes.

In the month leading to the offensive several reports talked about a plan by HTS and its allies to attack the SAA in order to take advantage of the distraction caused by the ongoing Israeli war on both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

In addition, Russian intelligence warned recently that the secret services of the Kiev regime were actively providing support to militants in Greater Idlib.

The HTS-led offensive very much put an end to the ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey on March 5 of 2020. Ankara, who maintains a large force in the region, has not yet commented on the offensive. Many observers doubt that such an offensive would be possible without the permission of the Turkish military, or at least its knowledge.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence

NOW hosted at southfront.press

Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.

The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation

Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com

SOUTHFRONT.PRESS

MORE ON THIS TOPIC: