On Novermber 3, pro-militant media outlets widely promoted the start of the so-called ‘2nd phase’ of advance in western Aleppo. Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian al-Qaeda branch) and its allies from the Jaish al-Fatah operation room attacked the pro-governent forces (the Syrian army, the Syrian army’s Tiger Forces, the Desert Hawk Brigade, Hezbollah and others) in the 3000 Apartment Project, the 1070 Apartment Project, the neighborhoods of New Aleppo, Minyan and al-Assad. Nonetheless, by November 4, the joint militant forces have failed to achieve any gains.
A pro-government map of the situation in Western Aleppo:
Click to see the full-size map
The militants were unable to break the army’s defenses due to failure of a major part of car bomb attacks on the government forces’ positions. As result of the advance, Jaish al-Fatah lost at least 2 field commanders and a sgnificant number of manpower and military equipment.
According to photo and video evidences (and information confirmed by pro-militant sources), since October 28, Jaish al-Fatah has lost over 10 armored vehicles, 10 ‘techicals’ equipped with machine guns, 8 main battle tanks, 3 artillery units and 3 multiple rocket launcher systems.
However, the militants’ artillery and rocket launchers delivered significant damage to the government-controlled areas, killing and injuring up to 40 fighters.
A pro-militant map of the situation in Western Aleppo:
Click to see the full-size map
Separately, Jaish al-Fatah delivered a series of artillery strikes on the Syrian government’s supply line along the Castello highway in northern Aleppo.
In general, the clahes in Aleppo city remain in a stage of the trench warfare. Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and its allies don’t have enough manpower and military equipment to deliver a devastating blow and to break the defenses of pro-government forces in the area.
A humanitarian pause also started on November 4 in Aleppo. But clashes are ongoing.
