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On April 26, several groups of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Horas al-Din launched a new attack on positions of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the northern Hama countryside capturing the village of al-Hamameyat, according to several Syrian opposition news outlets. The sources said that the militants had destroyed a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer and an armored vehicle of the SAA during their advance.
According to Syrian pro-government sources, the SAA responded to the attack by shelling gatherings of the militants in northern Hama with heavy rockets. Moreover, Russian Aerospace Forces warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes on positions and vehicles of the militants on the front lines in northern Hama.
As a result of the SAA heavy shelling the militants withdrew from al-Hamameyat an hour after capturing it, according to Syrian opposition sources. The militants withdrawal could mean that the attack failed.
The attack was the first large offensive of Horas al-Din, which was formed by seven groups linked to al-Qaeda on February 27. This fact didn’t stop the FSA from cooperating with the radical group during the recent attack against the SAA.
