The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

​Violent clashes in Abu Dhuhur air base and the regime forces and their allies advance under a heavy air cover

The SOHR learned that violent clashes area still taking place in the air base of Abu Dhuhur in the eastern countryside of Idlib between fighters of Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham and the rebel and Islamic factions against the regime forces and their allied militiamen of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities, and the SOHR monitored warplanes carrying out tens of airstrikes on areas in the vicinity of the air base, while the clashes are still ongoing in it, amid an advancement by the regime forces in the air base, which they managed to storm at the noon of Saturday the 20th of January 2018. The SOHR learned that regime forces managed to control the eastern part of the base and expanded their controlled areas in the vicinity of the air base, in order to prevent any rebel attacks against them in case they managed to fully control the air base and narrow the grip around the factions, which are still fighting in the air base and the pocket, which has been besieged today and that includes 100 villages under the control of Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham and ISIS.

The regime forces lost their control over the air base of Abu Dhuhur in the 1st third of September 2015, following a sudden attack by Hayaat Tahir Al-Sham and the factions in the area, making use of the bad weather and sand storm that hit the province of Idlib at that time, where the regime forces lost their last positions in the province of Idlib, and at that time they only controlled the towns of Kafria and Foua, which are mostly inhabited by Shiite people, and controlled by the National Defense Forces and Popular Committees. It is noteworthy that Abu Dhuhur has been besieged for more than 2 years by Nusra Front and the Islamic factions until they controlled it in 2015, and the air base was out of services and the regime forces stationed there and the warplanes were not able to implement any military operation out of it.

The SOHR monitored today Saturday that clashes broke out after 10 days of failure of the regime forces and their allies to control the air base, which is the man goal of the military operation of the regime forces, through which they managed to control tens of villages and towns of the eastern and southeastern countryside of Idlib. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published hours ago that it monitored that the regime forces managed to impose their firearm control on Abu Al-Duhur Airbase, then their members started to storm the airbase, and this violent attack was carried out under a cover of violent artillery and rocket shelling as well as the intensive raids which have reached about 90 raids since today morning Saturday the 20th of January 2018, amid confirmed information about the fall of a large number of human losses in the ranks of the both parties during the clashes and the exchange of shelling and targeting on the clash areas.  ​