HTS and other Syrian opposition factions launch a violent surprise attack on the Syrian government-controlled areas and rapidly advanced in several fronts heading to the city of Aleppo
Hay’at Tahrir al Sham and other Syrian opposition factions operating in the “al Fath al Mubin” operations room were able to advance in the western Aleppo countryside and take control of points in Qubtan Jabal and Sheikh Aqil near the 46th Regiment, amidst the ongoing attack and violent clashes with the Syrian government forces.
In a related context, a Russian warplane launched airstrikes with vacuum missiles on the rear points of the factions around the city of Atarib in the western countryside of Aleppo, and the regime forces bombed the cities of Atarib and Darat Izza and the surrounding villages with dozens of artillery shells and missiles, without any information about human losses so far.
On Wednesday morning, Hay’at Tahrir al Sham and the Syrian opposition factions o launched a violent attack on the positions of the regime forces in the 46th Regiment near the city of Atarib and positions in the western countryside of Aleppo.
The attack was accompanied by intense artillery and missile shelling exchanged between regime forces on the one hand, and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham and the factions on the other hand.
Meanwhile, the western countryside of Aleppo witnessed a large displacement movement from the city of Atarib and the surrounding villages, as a result of the military build-up by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham near the front lines with the regime forces.
According to the London based, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, death toll of military personnel during the ongoing clashes since dawn of Wednesday between the Syrian government forces on the one hand, and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham and other factions working with it within the so called “Deterrence of Aggression” operation has reached 153.
They are: 80 from HTS, 19 from the Turkish backed Syrian National Army, and 54 members of the Syrian government forces, including no less than 4 officers of different ranks.
The HTS and other Syrian opposition forces were able to tighten their control over the village of Shabour near the city of Saraqib in the eastern Idlib countryside and enter one of the city’s neighborhoods from the western side.
They also took control of the villages of Dadikh and Kafr Batikh in the eastern Idlib countryside, and the villages of Kafr Basin and Arnaz in the western Aleppo countryside after violent confrontations with the regime forces.
During these battles, 8 members of the regime forces were captured in the village of Ajil and the vicinity of the nearby associations, and two other members in the western Aleppo countryside, according to the same source.
In a related context, the Middle East Eye website quoted a Turkish security source as saying that the current opposition attack aims to stop the attacks launched by the Syrian government on civilians.
He also said that Russian-backed government attacks have reduced the de-escalation zone agreed upon in 2019, and the current operation aims to regain control of it as agreed at the time.
The de-escalation zone in 2019 included the M5 highway, the cities of Saraqib, Maarat al Numan, the western Aleppo countryside, and the northern Hama countryside.
