​Under cover of heavy fire, the regime forces and their allies control 5 villages and areas after Suhail Al-Hassan has led the battles of Hama and Idlib and expand their control over 45 villages and towns

The violent fighting is still ongoing between the regime forces backed by their allied militiamen of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities and under the command of Brigadier Suhail Al-Hassan against the rebel and Islamic factions and Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham, in the southeastern countryside of Idlib and northeastern countryside of Hama. The SOHR monitored the violent battles taking place in the vicinity of Umm Haratin villages, where the regime forces managed to advance today and control the village of Umm Haratin and Tal Tawila Mahmoud after the regime forces managed yesterday to control the villages of Ras Al-Ain, Qabibat and Tel Aswad. Thus the regime forces have controlled 44 villages and areas, which are Umm Haratin, Tel Tawila Mohamoud, Ras Al-Ain, Tel Aswad, Qabibat, Um Al-Huda,  al-Hawiyyah, Al-Rweideh, al-Syriatel Hill, Al-Shatib, Al-Zafriyyah, Al-Blil, Um Khazim, Um Trikiyyeh, Rajm al-Ahmar, Al-Shahatiyyah, Al-Mestriha, Jub Abyad, Rasm Abu Mayyal, Rasm Al-Sawwan, Rasm Al-Sawi, Rasm Al-Ahmar, Rasm Al-Tina, Abu Laffah, Al-Mshirfah, Jwi’eid, Hasrat, Khirbat Al-Rahjan, Hasnawi, Mweileh Shamali, Qasr Ali , Qasr Shawi, Tal Mahsar, Al-Rabiaa, Duma, Rabda, Hazem, Arafa, Mrijeb al-Jamlan, Al-Khefyeh, Sham Al Hawa, Al Rahraha, Sarha, Abu Al-Gher, Hasnawi and Baghidid.

This violent fighting is accompanied by missile and artillery shelling by the regime forces and their allied, in conjunction with airstrikes carried out by warplanes targeting the clash areas, and other areas in the Hama and Idlib countryside, where the SOHR monitored since Wednesday morning until the moment that the warplanes and helicopters and the regime forces targeted Khan Shaykhon, where a citizen was killed and others were injured, and areas in Serman and Tal Al-Tawkan where several citizens were injured. This was followed by heavy shelling of 6 helicopters consecutively and simultaneously on the areas of Hadaniyah, Umm Haratin, Al-Mushiarifa, Al-Hamdaniya, Al-Malolah and other areas in the countryside of Idlib and Hama, amid heavy shelling by the regime forces that fired mortar, artillery and tanks shells at the areas of Al-Shakuzia, Um Mayyal, Al-Rahjan.

The SOHR monitored that the helicopters and warplanes continued on Wednesday morning the 17th of December targeted the Idlib and Hama countryside, where they shelled the area extending from north of Hama to the eastern countryside of Idlib, following the shelling that targeted after Tuesday – Wednesday midnight areas in Al-Tamanah town and the villages of Atshan and Abu Dali and other areas, north east oh Hama and south of Idlib. This shelling comes as a revenge of taking down a warplane yesterday and killing the pilot after he landed in areas outside the regime-held areas.

the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published yesterday that this bombardment was carried out by the regime forces with their warplanes, helicopters, shells and missiles on the southern, the eastern and the south-eastern countryside of Idlib as well as the northern and the north-eastern countryside of Hama, backed by squadrons of Russian warplanes which take part in the bombardment, following two main events, the first was the arrival of military reinforcements of the regime forces and their allies of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities in Hama and Idlib countryside to take part in the combat operations, and assigning the Brigadier in the regime forces, Suhail Al-Hassan, known as the “Tiger” to lead the operation, and he is known for using aircraft intensively in the preliminary and combat operations, and he was the owner of the theory of explosive barrels which caused damage in large parts to the infrastructure, buildings, property and public facilities in Aleppo city and its countryside in addition to his operations in Hama, Al-Raqqah or even in Palmyra and the eastern countryside of Homs or in Deir Ezzor, and the second was the attack that was carried out by the rebel and Islamic factions on Zilaqiat area in the northern countryside of Hama, which lasted for only few hours as the regime forces managed to absorb the attack and they regained the control of the areas they lost in the north of Hama, followed by hysterical intensive shelling that has continued since the 17th of December 2017.