Fighting between the Syrian army and HTS-led terrorists has
reportedly expanded from western Aleppo city to southwest of Aleppo, east of
Idlib in the vicinity of Saraqib city, and southeast of Idlib.
Terrorists have been launching major attacks on these fronts
since Friday morning, intending to breach Aleppo.
A large
majority of the terrorists who have been killed are foreigners, according to
Syrian army sources.
After reinforcements, Special Forces were dispatched to the
region, the army took back control of one village from the terrorists in
southeastern Idlib after heavy clashes.
In two other villages, terrorists have been forced to
retreat to Idlib city.
The
counteroffensive has seen heavy rocket barrages and Russian-Syrian warplanes
targeting the positions of the HTS-led Joint Operations Room.
Terror groups are reportedly attempting to open a new front
after failing to advance toward a main highway called M5.
Intense battles are also taking place south of Idlib, which
is under Syrian army control.
Russian and Syrian airstrikes have stretched from villages
that had been taken over by terrorist groups in Western Aleppo and newly
established HTS supply lines in Jabal al-Zawiya (Zawiya Mountains), south of
Idlib.
Meanwhile, heavy fighting continues on two fronts in
Aleppo’s countryside between the Syrian army and terrorist groups who are
fiercely trying to make advances.
Syrian warplanes also targeted terrorists near the city of
Marea, north of Aleppo.
According to reports, clashes persist in Saraqib, west of
the Aleppo-Damascus highway, as militants fail to make any breakthrough.
The Syrian army also repelled militant attacks on a front
southwest of Aleppo city, thwarting four attacks from Thursday evening until
Friday morning.
Additionally, the army repelled five successive assaults on
Andan, northwest of Aleppo, inflicting heavy casualties among the terror
groups.
Violent clashes are also ongoing in the town of Mansoura,
west of Aleppo, as militants tried unsuccessfully to enter. The town is less
than two kilometers from Aleppo.
Reports
indicate that large convoys of militants, heavy weapons, and other ammunition
entered through a Syrian crossing with Turkey, heading toward combat fronts in
western Aleppo and southern Idlib.
Syrian warplanes monitored the convoys entering the town of
Marea and conducted airstrikes targeting terrorist positions and some of the
newly arrived military vehicles.
In recent days, HTS, alongside factions of the
Turkish-backed groups, launched a surprise broad offensive on Syrian army
positions in Idlib province and the city of Aleppo. Reports suggest that HTS
used new weapons, including Ukrainian drones.
On Wednesday, at least 400 militants linked to HTS were
killed while attacking Syrian army positions in Aleppo and Idlib, according to
Oleg Yegnasiyuk, deputy chief of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria.
Analysts
have been quick to point out that the timing of the terror offensive on Aleppo,
which has led to the martyrdom of a senior Iranian military advisor in Syria,
coincided with the Israeli ceasefire with Lebanon.
On Wednesday, the 60-day truce ended the daily exchange of
fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military since October 08, 2023.
The
last battle in Aleppo saw similar terrorist groups defeated in 2017 when the
Syrian army, backed by Iranian military advisors and Russia, liberated the
ancient city.
It was widely believed to be the turning point in the more
than a decade-long Syrian war on terrorism that saw militants, who had once
controlled large swathes of Syria, holed up in Idlib.
Northwest
of Syria, where there are oil reserves, is also occupied by the United States
military and mostly US-backed Kurdish rebels.
Turkey has maintained an illegal occupation in the northern
Syrian border near Idlib over the past years as well.
This is while the Israeli regime has, for decades now,
occupied the Syrian Golan Heights in another threat to the stability of the
Arab country.
