Intensive raids and violent shelling accompany the violent attacks of the regime forces and their supporting forces in order to regain the control of the hometown of the regime’s Minister of Defense

Hama Province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the clashes returned to head the scene in the north-eastern countryside of Hama hours after they stopped yesterday evening the 3rd of December 2017, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored violent clashes started after the midnight of Sunday – Monday, between the regime forces backed by armed militiamen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities against Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and the rebel and Islamic factions, in areas in the farms of Al-Rahjan town and in the vicinity of Al-Bulail and Al-Zafiriyyah, amid intensive raids by warplanes that targeted areas in Al-Rahjan, Abu Dali, Al-Shatib, and Umm Khuzaim, Al-Bulail and Al-Zafiriyyah, amid intensive and violent shelling by the regime forces on the same areas, and other positions in their vicinities and confirmed information about casualties in the ranks of the both parties.

The regime forces intend through escalating their attack to regain the control of Al-Rahjan town, the hometown of the their Minister of Defense, after they entered the town yesterday for hours and took the control of positions in its outskirts, in which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published that violent clashes continue between the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities against and the rebel and Islamic factions and Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham, in the northeastern countryside of Hama, where the factions were able to re-advance and restore the parts to which the regime forces advanced to in Rahjan town, which is the birthplace of Syrian Regime’s Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Farij, which the regime forces lost in the middle of July 2014 to al-Nusra Front (al-Qaeda in the Levant back then), and the violent clashes were accompanied by continuation of intensive aerial bombardment and heavy artillery shelling on the town by the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them.

And the Syrian Observatory published yesterday afternoon that the regime forces managed to storm into the town after carrying out more than 50 raids by 3 warplanes today Sunday the 3rd of December 2017, in conjunction with artillery and missile shelling, and the clashes are still ongoing in an attempt by the regime forces to control the positions they advanced to, while the factions try to advance and control positions they lost in the same town, and the SOHR published today morning that the regime forces are trying through the daily attacks – which stop at sunset and turn into exchange of targeting, as a result of revealing the positions of the both parties on the state of attack, in addition to the regime forces’ fear of advancement in the area, for fear of falling into ambushes – to advance and take the control of more villages after they managed to take the control of Al-Shahtiya, al-Mestriha, Jub Abyad, Rasm Abu Myal, Rasm Al-Sawy, Rasm Al-Ahmar, Rasm al-Tina, Abu Lafa, Marijab Al-Jamlan, Al-Khafiya, Sham Al-Hawa, Al-Rehraha, Sarha, Abu Al-Ghar, Baghdid, Al-Mushayrafa, Jawiad, Hasrat, Kharbat Al-Rahjan, Hasnawy, Mwailah Shamali, Qasr Ali, Qasr Shawy, Tel Mahsar, Al-Rabia, Douma, Rabda, Al-Hazm and Arafa, the regime forces also intend through this calm to strength their fortifications and hold their controlled positions in the north-eastern countryside of Hama, in an attempt to repel the future counter attacks which may be carried out by the rebel and Islamic factions on the areas they lost and those which mentioned above, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented that the warplanes and helicopters carried out more than 1220 raids, and hundreds of missiles and shells, which targeted the factions and Tahrir Al-Sham held-areas, and the SHOR also documented the fall of a large number of human losses in the ranks of the both parties, in which it documented the death of 156 members of the Tahrir Al-Sham, the Turkistan Islamic Movement and the Islamic and rebel factions, who were killed since the regime forces started on the 22nd of October 2017, their heavy shelling on areas in the north eastern countryside of Hama, which was followed by violent attack to achieve advancement in the area, until today the 2nd of December 2017, and 112 members at least of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them were killed in the same clashes, and the violent clashes in this countryside left big number of displaced, whose numbers hit more than 50 thousand displaced civilians, who fled the areas close to the clash area towards other areas in the southern and southeastern countryside of Idlib, and towards other areas in the northern countryside of Hama, while dozens of civilians were killed and injured in this artillery, missile and aerial shelling.