10 days after they failed to break it into…the regime forces and their allies reach the outskirts of Abu Al-Duhur Military Airbase and impose a siege on it from 3 sides preparing for breaking it into
Tahrir Al-Sham and ISIS are besieged in a pocket of about 100 villages in the adjacent countryside of Aleppo, Hama and Idlib
Abu Al-Duhur Military Airbase and its vicinity have been witnessing intensive shelling since today morning Saturday the 20th of January 2018, carried out by a squadron of warplanes which carry out simultaneous bombardment on the airbase and its vicinity, in conjunction with intensive artillery and rocket shelling by the regime forces on the area, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that this intensive shelling was accompanied by violent attack by the regime forces to take the control of Abu Al-Duhur Military Airbase, as violent clashes are taking 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, near Abu Al-Duhur Airbase, through which the regime forces managed to advance to the south, the east and the north of the airbase, besieging it from 3 sides ( the southern, the eastern and the northern sides).
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also monitored that the regime forces are continuing their operations, with a preparation for taking the control of Abu Al-Duhur Military Airbase, after the clashes on this front stopped for 10 consecutive days, as Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamic Party of Turkestan and the rebel and Islamic factions managed to force the regime forces to retreat after they reached the walls of the airbase, which is the main goal of the regime’s operations in the south-eastern countryside of Idlib, where the regime forces have been trying to control it since this operation started.
These violent clashes between the regime forces and their allies against Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and the rebel and Islamic factions, enabled the regime forces to advance and block the first gap linking between their controlled areas in the southern countryside of Aleppo, and the areas where they located in the eastern countryside of Idlib, thus, they besieged the first pocket contains about 100 villages controlled by Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and the “Islamic State” organization, in the adjacent countryside of Aleppo, Hama and Idlib, in which Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham is located in 35 villages at least while the organization is located in about 63 villages, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published on the 17th of January 2018, that violent clashes are taking place between the regime forces backed by their allied militiamen of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities against ISIS organization in the town of Sinjar, the most important area controlled by the regime forces through their military operation, led by Suhail al-Hassan, the brigadier in the regime forces, since the beginning of the operation in Idlib on the 25th of December 2017, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the advancement of the organization, after it managed, during the past 24 hours, to advance and control 15 villages in the countryside of Idlib and Hama, reaching more advancement towards the north, where it reached areas in the town of Sinjar, and if the organization managed to control the town and two villages located in the east of Sinjar, then the regime forces would be besieged in a circle between Sinjar and the air base of Abu Duhur, and with this advancement, ISIS has expanded its control over the area, where the organization became in control of 63 villages in the northeastern countryside of Hama and the eastern part of Idlib countryside. The organization has become about 15 km away from the air base of Abu Dhuhur, which is the main target of the military operation of Idlib, and the clashes are accompanied with explosions and targeting between both parties in an attempt by the organization to achieve strategic advancement in the area and control Sinjar and more villages in the area.