The Syrian Army and its allies, notably the National Defense Forces or NDF, have taken control of a strategic area near Kweiris Airbase located in the North of Aleppo province.
Considered as one of the most important districts in the fight for Aleppo, the district area near the Kweiris Airbase has fallen to the Syrian Army. The district was previously under the control of IS militants. The extremist group sustained heavy losses in the fight.
Iran’s FARS news agency reported that fighters loyal to Bashar al Assad took full control of the Arbid al Judaydah district after engaging Daesh militants and fighting them for several hours. The fall of the district came after Syrian army and the National Defense Forces were able to capture the strategic towns of Tal Hattabat and Qatar near the Airbase during the previous week.
There is also widespread speculation after a retired Lebanese general was quoted as saying that the Syrian army is preparing to attack militants of the al Nusra Front within the next few days. The massive attack against al Nusra is planned in order to break the siege on the towns of Nubl and al Zahra.
Both these towns are populated by Shiites. There has been an ongoing siege of the towns for the past few years. The civilian population is starving for months.
“All terrorist groups that are targeting the towns of Nubl and al-Zahra will experience a defeat similar to the defeat they faced at Kweiris Airbase in Aleppo Province.”
The retired Lebanese general Ali Maqsoud was quoted as saying.
The Syrian army has the support of Russian aircrafts. Russia has been actively engaged in the conflict since September last year.
On September 30, Russia mounted its first aerial attack on Syria with the help of more than 50 warplanes. These aircrafts included SU-24M, SU-25 and SU-34 jets. The Russian jets are not only targeting the Islamic State, but also other Western-backed rebel groups fighting the Assad regime.
On Monday, the Russian General Staff revealed that Russian jets have carried out 169 bombings within the last 3 days. They have hit and destroyed at least 480 targets. Dozens of Islamic State militants were killed and several more wounded an attack was repelled by the Syrian army near the town of Baqaliyeh which is situated in the Deir ez Zor province. The Syrian civil war started as peaceful protests in early 2011 against the regime of Bashar al Assad who responded with violence.
The conflict gradually became an armed rebellion due to military crackdown and sieges. The civil war has morphed into a sectarian conflict with several militias fighting against and for the regime.
International organizations have accused the Syrian army, the Islamic State and other forces active in the conflict of human rights violations. A round of peace talks have started in Vienna with the backing of regional and international powers for the purpose of ending the conflict
