Fierce clashes have been ongoing in northern Hama since June 6 when Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Jaysh al-Izza, the Turkish-backed National Front for Liberation (NFL) and their allies launched an advance on Syrian Arab Army (SAA) positions there.
Initially, militants seized several positions, including Jibeen and Tal Meleh, but then the SAA re-grouped and launched a counter-attack stopping the further militant advance. According to pro-government sources, the recently deployed reinforcements from the 5th Assault Corps, the 3rd Armoured Division and 7th Armoured Division as well as support of the Syrian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Forces played a role in this counter-attack.
The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that at least 102 militants and 126 pro-government fighters have been killed in the clashes. Both these numbers seem to be overestimated. Nonetheless, if they are even partially true, these are the most intense clashes in the area over the past few months.
On June 9, units of the NFL and the al-Qaeda-affiliated coalition of militant groups, Wa Harid al-Muminin, attacked SAA positions near Turkish border in northern Lattakia. A source in the SAA told SouthFront that the attack, which began in the early hours of the morning, was launched from Turkish territory. The source said that vehicles armed with heavy machine guns supporting the militants were moving on the border line. A salvo of rockets was also launched from the direction of southern Turkey.
Sources close to the NFL and Wa Hariiid al-Muminin claimed that over 50 troops were killed in the attack. Nonetheless, this number remains unconfirmed by any photo or video evidence.
The NFL was formed last August by several Turkish-backed groups after direct pressure from Ankara. Wa Harid al-Muminin was established around the same time by al-Qaeda-affiliated Jamat Ansar al-Islam, Horas al-Din, Jabhat Ansar al-Islam and Ansar al-Tawhid.
Meanwhile, militants started using man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADs) against aircraft supporting the SAA.
On June 7, a Syrian warplane was hit by a surface-to-air missile over northern Hama. A military source told SouthFront that a Syrian Su-22M4 fighter bomber was hit with a MANPAD, but the damaged jet landed in a unspecified airbase in Homs. The pilot survived.
On June 8, the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham news network claimed that a L-39 jet of the Syrian Air Force was targeted by a unspecified air-defense weapon while conducting a sortie over Greater Idlib. However, pro-government sources denied these claims.
its a bit dissapointing to me that despite the huge advantage of airpower for SAA and allies the losses and gains on both sides seem to be balanced.
The terror!sts don’t report casualties as it is was
To the side of Al Qaeda affiliates, there were more than 500 fighters (afaik)
So it’s not certain that the forces involved were “balanced”. Where you see that?
I think you are right, we hear days ago about massive casualties when SAA retook Kafr Nabudah, backed by videos and pictures and now theres more of it(that vid showing the battleground filled with hts corpses)
There are 50,000 some say 70,000+ terrorists in Idlib. They are battle hardened & the most radical who refused reconciliation & instead chose to take green buses to the Idlib pocket. Now those same terrorists are backed by Turkey & they are yearning for revenge. The SAA knows that rushing in would cause mass casualties among their ranks, so they continue to bomb the terrorists & try to lure them out of their entrenched positions. So far the SAA have been successful in softening up rebel positions & constantly inflicting heavy casualties among their ranks.
Each side has lost over 700 fighters in the battle for Idlib. The SAA will not survive if it keeps losing man for man. If it is a meat grinder with thousands of losses they will desert. Their resolve is not based on fanaticism but the ability to find a job in a country that has none.
Yawn, be gone ignorant and evil twat.
If Turkey’s terrorists are going to be defeated the border has to be sealed off.
Yes, I absolutely agree.
PS deleted previous comment.
You don’t yell support for your leader if you’re losing. You don’t show and count your losses if you’re losing. I see this very open on both sides. But those pesky little sand scarabs SOHR should be stepped on. Evil IS evil and it has to be wiped out and Islam is that Evil.
I know a guy in the SAA and you have to look at it from his perspective. He makes less than $100 a month, he has a wife and three kids living in a refugee camp. He sends every dime back to his family. He could be making $140 a month fighting for Turkey’s Terrorists and selling loot. He doesn’t care about Assad, he doesn’t care about Islam. He only cares about surviving. When one is desperate it is a thin line of what side you are willing to be on.
Are you kidding ? The terrorists do not admit to their casualties. Air strikes have decimated the terrorist ranks & caused thousands of casualties among them. Just in the recent failed offensive by the terrorists, they sustained massive casualties, close to 200+ in just 48 hours. The SAA are intelligent, when they are overwhelmed they order a tactical withdrawal. The terrorists are used like cannon fodder, swarming against entrenched SAA positions in hopeless kamikaze style attacks while Syrian/Russian airpower & Iranian drones bomb them into oblivion. .
The morale and training outside of the Republican Guard is low. When the militias are pushed by an advance they run and get mowed down by the dozens. The terrorists are fanatics and press local villagers into service threatening their children if they don’t fight, most of the casualties are those cannon fodder, not the people they are trying to root out. Until the border with Turkey is sealed off, this is not going to end.
Silly child, did u forget Aleppo ? Ghouta ? Daara ? When SAA want to go on the offensive they can. Idlib has 50-70,000 battle hardened mercenaries & foreign fighters, extremely radicalized & willing to sacrifice themselves in suicide bombing attacks & suicidal kamikaze human wave attacks.
The SAA could have already taken Idlib but it would have cost a high casualty rate. So far the SAA have not gone on a large scale offensive. The strategy is to launch mini offensives, force the terrorists out of their hardened, fortified & entrenched positions.
When terrorists attack, SAA tactically withdraws, allows terrorists to take 1 or 2 villages. SAA even leaves behind weapons, which terrorists take time to collect. The militants then get excited & send hundreds or thousands more fighters to the front. The SAA then launch massive airstrikes with help from Russia & Iranian drones. Simultaneously the SAA launch vicious & highly coordinated counter attacks where they cut off terrorists from supply lines, bomb their supply lines & then proceed to mow them down when they’re surrounded.
Did you forget the reason why Idlib has 70,000 jihadis? They let them all go in exchange to fight another day. This battle has been delayed for years. This is the true test of the SAA and we see how they perform.
The terrorists put everything they could muster into the recent offensive. 300+ died in 72 hrs. So far 2000+ terrorists killed since the start of the 3 week campaign. 6000 crippled from bombings & suicidal kamikaze style attacks.
In another few months 10,000+ terrorists will be dead & 30,000+ crippled & injured/missing in action. When there is nothing left moving SAA will move in with jets, drones, artillery, rockets, missiles, cruise missiles, helicopter gun ships, barrel bombs, tanks, armored vehicles, trucks mounted with anti aircraft guns. The terrorists will crumble faster than a house of cards. Already many militants leaders are fleeing to terke in anticipation for their annihilation.
They haven’t even lost a 1000 yet, there are still another 69,000 to go and another million hiding in Turkey. Until that border is closed there is no victory.
Just in the last failed offensive the terrorists lost 300+. When they launched a massive counter attack to retake Kafr Nabudah they lost 150+, that was the preliminary body count. You’re not fooling anybody. Despite zionist propaganda airstrikes are targeting terrorists & their infrastructure & killing them on mass.
Exterminate All Western Supported Headchoppers
Here’s great video by ANNA news (now that’s true journalism) https://youtu.be/Ps0KHY3PcQM
Some of us seem a bit dissapointed that there’s no easy win for SAA. But I would suggest that we face reality as it is. There’s stong support (arms/ammo) from Turkey.This is last stronghold of rats. There’s nowhere to go via green bus tour and they fight fiersly – throwing everything they have during this counter attacks. They understand clearly that they can’t resort to positional war – their resources will end sooner than SAA. They hope that their US/UK/Israel masters will do something to halt SAA offensive. But their situation is hopless – sooner or later they will get what they asked for. It looks like there are similar losses on both sides but I see it differently – SAA has much more depth to it and they are not on a hurry, not waisting too many lives and material. While rats are rapidly running very lean. Those attacks are way too costly for them. Their gains are short lived but losses are permanent. End result is inevitable – rats already lost this battle even if they don’t realize it yet. Victory may come later than we would like it to be but it will come non the less.
Good points my friend and i thought so likewise. But still don’t onderstand the few terrorist casualties after so many airstrikes
I don’t think there are few casualties after so many airstrikes. I think their losses in manpower and material are going to show very soon. I have a feeling they’re really running lean by now. Cornered rat is still dangerous but there’s no way out.
The SAA could have already taken most of the Idlib pocket by now, however it would have sustained massive casualties had they rushed in. The SAA have not launched any major offensive as of yet. So far they continue to bomb the terrorists & play games with them, luring them out of their entrenched positions.
It was very predictable that the intensity of clashes would increase after the end of Ramadan.
Al Salam to all those fighting the tyranny of Assad and his Assassins.
Hush bitch, go polish my shoes
and gfy to all those accepting to be slaves of Israel and the US.
The only tyranny I see here is the dogs head up your ass barking nonsense.
since when SOHR is a reliable source about combat related casualties.
They (actually he) are just trying to make jihadists think that they are able to inflict roughly the same amount of losses they take from the SAA. All this is amateurish to say the least, while the ragheads are being sent to be butchered as cannon fodder, because after all the green buses they have enough people in Idlib to afford losing thousands of them.
yet another time, the jihadist side shows that they have no real military strategy behind their moves, while they bet everything on propagandistic themes.
This has been their grand-strategy from 2015, it never served them well, and it won’t help them now.
A lot of us might have forgotten but it’s usually ex FSA fighters and other ex rebel members who’ve been forcibly conscripted into the SAA who usually make up the front line troops in these assaults. If you do some simple checking you’ll find that nearly all the major assaults and defensive actions by the SAA over the last 18 months have involved huge numbers of those ex rebel fighters, and up until earlier on this year they’ve bourne most of the casualties in any of the fighting that’s occurred. Last year the SAA were sending in ex FSA and other conscripted rebel fighters first in most of their operations, but due to several mass defections [200 in one hit once], and bad tactical results, they now intermingle regular units with the conscript units to a try and avoid that happening. So a lot of the SAA who’ve been killed in this fighting were probably actually fighting against the SAA in Daraa and Quneitra last year, as FSA rebel fighters, now the’re fighting against HTS and the FSA as SAA soldiers. I’d hoped by mentioning that fact it might make me and a few others feel a little better about the high SAA casualty numbers, but sadly I also realize that roughly half of them would’ve also been loyal regular SAA troops too, so there is no real good news at all, and I should probably just delete my comment since it’s still depressing me, and I might be depressing others too, so sorry if I did.
The videos posted by so called “terrorists” which is practically anyone who opposes Bashar Assad indicates otherwise!!!?. Tow AGTM’s ripping apart Syrian army armour and allied militias posts, dead soldiers bodies and a whole lot of POW’s…
this web site seems to be for Bashar Assad lovers!. and you guys seem to be very disappointed for the lack of success!…
3divisible
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