The clashes are ongoing violently in the countryside of Idlib and the regime forces continue attacking in order to advance in more areas

The fighting is still ongoing violently between the regime forces backed by their allied militiamen of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities against the rebel and Islamic factions and Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham in areas in the southeastern countryside of Idlib, following the ongoing and violent attacks by the regime forces on areas of Al-Mushayrifa and Tel Makta’ near Abu Dali strategic town. The violent clashes between them are accompanied by heavy shelling on areas of the factions and Tahrir Al-Sham, and the regime forces desperately seek to control this area, and expand their areas of control in the countryside of Idlib, and reduce areas controlled by the factions and Tahrir Al-Sham.

The SOHR published today morning that the renewed aerial raids and land shelling ended the silence of the north-eastern countryside of Hama and the south-eastern countryside of Idlib, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that the warplanes carried out raids targeting the villages and the towns of Al-Mshirfah, Abu Dali and Al-Rahjan, followed by intensive bombardment this morning the 21st of December 2017, on the villages of Om Mayyal and al-Shakuziyyeh, coincided with intensive raids on areas in Al-Rahjan and its vicinity as well as other places in Abu Dali area, in which violent clashes are taking places between the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities against Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and the rebel and Islamic factions, on areas in the vicinity of Al-Mshirfah village and the vicinity of Abu Dali area, as the regime forces are trying to achieve advancement with the help of intensive and violent shelling on Al-Mshirfah village, and information about casualties due to the shelling, exchange of targeting and clashes between the both parties, while the factions targeted positions of the regime forces in Umm Turaykiyah and Tell Khanzir villages, and no information about casualties was reported yet, in the ranks of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored intensive shelling on Al-Lataminah and Kafr Zita towns in the northern countryside of Hama, coincided with the intensive shelling and the violent clashes, in which the regime forces targeted the both cities at the same time by tens of shells, which caused material damage to the property of the citizens and the infrastructure of the both cities, as well as resulting in the fall of casualties, in which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented the death of a man and the injury of others in this shelling, and the death toll is expected to increase due to the presence of injuries in serious conditions.

And the regime forces are trying to increase their scope of control and go deeper into the south-eastern countryside of Idlib, in order to regain the control of the important area of Abu Dali, which they lost few weeks ago, and to take the control of the area of Tal al-Aghar which will enables them to monitor a large space by firearm, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published during the past 48 hours, that the control over the hill and village of al-Aghar will enable the regime forces to impose semi-full siege with ISIS on Al-Dabiyiah and A’ab Al-Khazna villages and Jebel Hwaish area, which are controlled by Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham, where only one passage will be remained to link the besieged areas with other areas controlled by Tahrir Al-Sham, which may lead the fighters of Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham to withdraw from this passage, in order not to be fully besieged and attacked by ISIS, which uses the opportunity to carry out attacks on the area and control the largest number of villages to increase its controlled areas in the northeastern countryside of Hama, through which the organization goes deep into the province of Idlib, from which it was expelled days ago, in which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that the clashes between the “Islamic State” organization against Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham in the north-eastern countryside of Hama, entered their 3rd month since they started in the north-eastern countryside of Hama on the 9th of October 2017, and the clashes finished their second month with the entry to Idlib province, in which the organization managed to enter the administrative border of Idlib, 4 years after it was expelled by the rebel and Islamic factions in early 2014, in which the organization was operating named as “the Islamic state organization in Iraq and the Levant” before its declaration as the “Caliphate State” in late June 2014, while Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham managed to expel the organization from Idlib province again, less than 24 hours after the  organization entered Idlib, in which  Tahrir Al-Sham recovered the positions which the organization advanced in, in Bashkun area inside the administrative border of Idlib, and Tahrir Al-Sham also regained the control of two villages, thus, it secured again the border of Idlib province of the entry of members of the organization.