ISIS expands its scope of control to 82 towns and villages in Aleppo – Hama – Idlib Triangle and threatens Aleppo main artery again
The attack of the organization kills 12 members of the regime forces through two attacks in Idlib and Aleppo countryside
It was not enough for the “Islamic State” organization to impose its presence again in Aleppo, so it continued its operations to strike the regime forces and their allies, in the areas which witnessed its last exit from Aleppo province in late June 2017, to start then, operations in the province, where the regime forces led by Suhail Al-Hassan ended its presence, thus, the organization has never stopped during the few past months to find a chance to be presented in the north-east of Hama, and it also worked on expanding its control using all members who were presented in early October 2017 in Hama countryside, as well as those members who arrived later through the regime’s controlled areas in the Syrian Desert.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored today Thursday the 25th of January 2018, that the organization managed to advance again in the southern countryside of Aleppo, at the expense of the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them, and it took the control of two villages enabled it greatly to approach the main artery of Aleppo city, Aleppo – Khanasir – Ithriyah Road, which is the only current land road linking Aleppo city with the middle and the south of Syria, thus, the presence of the organization threatens this road again, after the regime forces sent Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham away from the road during the past few weeks after the expelling the organization from Aleppo province.
Similar clashes of those taking place in Aleppo province, were witnessed in the eastern countryside of Idlib, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored clashes took place near Sinjar area between the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities against the “Islamic State” organization, and the SOHR documented during the ISIS today’s attacks in Idlib and its advancement in Aleppo countryside, the death of 12 members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities, while others were injured with varying severity, and confirmed information about the death of members of the organization in the same clashes, and with the expand of the organization in Aleppo province, it has increased to 82 at least, the number of the villages and the towns which it has controlled since the 10th of January 2018.
While Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that ISIS managed to impose its control over the remaining villages which reached about 17 villages, after the regime forces advanced in other villages within this pocket, and thus ending the presence of Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham in the villages, and this part of the northeastern countryside of Hama and the southern countryside of Aleppo, and the rapid advancement of ISIS expanded its control to at least 80 villages in the countryside of three provinces, Idlib, Aleppo and Hama, which bring back ISIS to the province, they lost their full control of them on the 30th of June 2017, where they managed to control on several villages in the province of Aleppo, and thus its presence of return in the 3 province, which are Idlib, of which they were expelled to about 4 years, Hama province, which their presence was ended in the third part 2017, and Aleppo province, of which they were expelled at the mid of 2017, within 4 consecutive months, since the beginning of October 2017.