The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

The regime forces with their allies start a violent attack towards the west of Abu Al-Duhur and advance in 11 villages to become about 15 km away from Saraqeb and Aleppo – Damascus International Road

Idlib Province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the violent clashes renewed again between the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities against Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and the rebel and Islamic factions, where the regime forces started their new operation today the 31st of January 2018, to the west of Abu Al-Duhur towards Saraqeb area, and the regime forces managed to advance in 11 villages and areas located between Abu Al-Duhur and Saraqeb, and reached at a distance of about 15 km from Saraqeb town which is one of the most important towns in the eastern countryside of Idlib, and which may be taken by the regime forces -in the case that they controlled it- as a base where they can launch deep into Idlib province, and which Aleppo – Damascus International Road pass through, and Saraqeb town is located at a distance of about 11 km away from Al-Fu’ah and Kafriya towns controlled by gunmen loyal to the regime forces and inhabited by citizens of the Shiite community in the north-eastern countryside of Idlib.

These violent clashes were accompanied by intensive aerial, artillery and rocket shelling by the regime forces on villages and towns in the eastern countryside of Idlib, in conjunction with bombardment by warplanes and helicopters on the clash areas and other areas in Idlib countryside, in which the bombardment targeted today the areas of Barissa, Khan Shaykhun city, the towns of Jarjnaz and Saraqeb, and the villages of Raffa, Umm Elkhalayel, Zarzur, Halbeh, Tawil, Halib, Dhahabiyah, Tweim, Ferwan, Barsah, Qatrah, Samaka, Harran, and Sarman in the eastern, the southern and the south-eastern countryside of Idlib, and this operation comes as a completion of the military operation which the regime forces resumed on the 25th of December 2017, led by the Brigadier in the regime forces Suhail Al-Hassan, through which the regime forces and their allies of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities managed to advance in the area, and they took the control of tens of villages until they reached and controlled Abu Al-Duhur Military Airbase, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published few days ago, that the massive military operations in Idlib and Hama and then Aleppo, completed today their first month since they were launched on the 25th of December 2017, after the Brigadier in the regime forces, Suhail Al-Hassan, was assigned to lead these operations which enabled two main parties to achieve advancement, the first is the regime forces baked by their allies of the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Revolutionary Iranian Guards and the armed militiamen loyal to the regime of Syrian, Palestinian and Arab nationalities, which achieved wide advancement in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib and Hama, controlling about 325 towns and villages, the largest section was in the southern countryside of Aleppo, followed by the eastern and the south eastern countryside of Idlib, and then the north-eastern countryside of Hama, while the second party, the “Islamic State” organization, achieved wide advancement and imposed its control over 82 villages and towns, in the north-eastern countryside of Hama, the southern countryside of Aleppo and the eastern and the south-eastern countryside of Idlib, in which the advancement of the both parties came at the expense of Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham which withdrew due to the intensive shelling and its inability to repel the advancement of the both parties, and as the regime forces followed the technique of confining it in separated pockets.

And the battles that took place between Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham, Islamic Turkestan, Noor Al-Din Al-Zenki Movement, Jaysh Al-Ahrar, Al-Sham Corps, Jaysh Al-Izza, Free Jaysh Idlib, Jaysh Al-Nokhaba, Al-Jaysh Al-Thani, Jaysh Al-Nasr, Ahrar Al-Sham Islamic Movement, against the regime forces and their allied militiamen of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities, caused a large number of human losses in the ranks of both parties, where the SOHR documented the death of 571 fighters and members who were killed within a month of the fierce battles that took place in areas northeast of Hama and the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo. They are 257 members of the regime forces and their allied militiamen of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities including at least 22 officers, while 314 fighters of the rebel and Islamic factions, Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham, Turkestan Islamic Party, including at least 103 fighters of non-Syrian nationalities of Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham and Turkestan Islamic Party, and hundreds of both parties were inured with different severity, due to the artillery and aerial shelling, clashes and an exchange of targeting on the clash areas between the both parties.