Clashes in the northern countryside of Aleppo in the wake of large military mobilizations by the regime, Iranians, and the factions in preparations for a battle in the area

Aleppo Province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the outbreak of clashes with deferent degrees of violence between the regime forces and the militiamen loyal to them against the rebel and Islamic factions, in areas in the vicinity of Kaljibrin area in the northern countryside of Aleppo, and the clashes were accompanied by targeting of Kaljibrin area by the regime forces b several shells, which caused material damage but no information about casualties, and this fight comes after continuous mobilizations for the regime forces with the Iranian forces and gunmen loyal to them in both northern and north-eastern sectors of Aleppo countryside, where the contact areas with the rebel and Islamic factions which operate in the area and most of which are supported by the Turkish forces, are located, where these mobilizations have started since the beginning of September 2018, through bringing more military reinforcements of tanks, armored vehicles and heavy and medium weapons in addition to fighters, along with the movements of the Syrian opposition of rebel and Islamic factions as well as the Turkish forces’ fortifications to their positions, and the Syrian Observatory learned that the reinforcements that began to arrive in the area since the 2nd of September 2018, of the Iranian forces the regime forces, have reached more than 5000 members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian, Arab, and Asian nationalities, and tens of vehicles, armored vehicles, and tanks have spread over an areas extending from al-Shahba dam area to the contact lines with Afrin, passing through Om Hosh, Tal Rifaat, Harbel, Ein Daqneh, Menagh airport, Deir Jamal, and the surroundings of Nubl and Zahra, and areas in the north-eastern countryside of Aleppo, while areas in the northern countryside of Aleppo witnessed exchange of targeting between the regime forces against the factions in the controlled areas of each of them in the area.

These reinforcements also coincided with the receiving points by Jaysh al-Islam on the contact points with the regime forces in the northern countryside of Aleppo, after a consensus with a faction supported by Turkey for Jaysh al-Islam to receive the points, where Jaysh al-Islam restructured itself and reassembled its forces, while the regime forces are carrying out this mobilizations and fortification in Aleppo countryside, fearing an attack that may target their location in case the battle of Idlib was launched, for which they have mobilized more than 2000 military armored vehicle and tens of thousands of members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them, most of them were brought from fronts that previously witnessed clashes against the “Islamic State” organization or the rebel and Islamic factions.

The Syrian Observatory also published on the 9th of September 2018, that it obtained information from a number of reliable sources, about new movements by Jaysh Al-Islam, within refreshing its presence within the Syrian territory in an organized military manner, after it had bought weapons and established headquarters in the Syrian North, following its arrival on the busses of displacement which carried thousands of members and commanders of Jaysh Al-Islam with their families as well as the citizens who were located within its previous controlled areas in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, and the information that was received by the SOHR, reported that Jaysh Al-Islam has taken over contact points with the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them in the north-eastern countryside of Aleppo, and the number of these points exceeded 10, in the are of Tadef and its vicinity, after a meeting that took place between the leadership of Jaysh Al-Islam and the leadership of Ahrar al-Sharqiyyah, about the former’s request to take over the points of contact, then and after Ahrar al-Sharqiyyah Gathering agreed, Jaysh Al-Islam tended to fortify these points and deployed its members in them, also the Syrian Observatory obtained information on the 3rd of September 2018, from a number of reliable sources, which confirmed that Jaysh al-Islam (which used to operate in the Eastern Ghouta, and came out of it after an agreement between it and between the regime forces and the Russians aboard hundreds of buses carried thousands of displaced fighters, civilians, and their families to the Syrian north) opened a large headquarters in Afrin city which is under the control of the Turkey-supported “Olive Branch” Operation Forces, where the sources confirmed that Jaysh al-Islam converted the building it seized to a military headquarters and deployed fighters and guards in the vicinity of the largest building, this comes as part of reviving Jaysh al-Islam for itself after losing its full presence in the Eastern Ghouta months ago, after a military operation ended with the agreement of displacement and a “reconciliation”.