File image.
Militants led by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on November 30 broke through the defenses of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the southern Idlib countryside as a part of their ongoing large-scale offensive, codenamed Operation Deterrence of Aggression.
Despite facing strong resistance, the militants advanced with speed from the town of Saraqib, which fell into their hands a day earlier.
The militants captured some two dozen towns, including Jarjanaz and Talmenes. They later pushed deeper, imposing control over Abu Duhur Air Base.
The latest push put HTS and its allies around five kilometers away from the northern Hamas countryside. The SAA maintains a large presence in the region. However, it is unclear if defenses were prepared there or if sufficient troops are still there.
The militant’s latest gains were not without losses. At least 155 militants of HTS, 28 others from Turkey-backed factions and some 79 Syrian troops have been killed since the start of the offensive on November 27, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based pro-opposition monitoring group.
The so-called Operation Deterrence of Aggression was launched early on November 27 from the Greater Idlib region, which includes Idlib city and parts of the governorates countryside as well as several towns in the northern Lattakia countryside, the northwestern Hamas countryside and the western countryside of Aleppo.
In the month leading to the offensive several reports talked about a plan by HTS and its allies to attack the SAA in Aleppo city in order to take advantage of the distraction caused by the ongoing Israeli war on both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
Moreover, Russian intelligence warned that the secret services of the Kiev regime were actively providing support to militants in Greater Idlib.
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