Aleppo offensive (October–December 2015)

Aleppo offensive (October–December 2015)
Part of the Battle of Aleppo (2012–present)
and the Syrian Civil War

Map of the frontline changes in the Aleppo Province from 16 October 2015 – 4 February 2016
     Syrian Army control

     Opposition control (including al-Nusra Front)      Kurdish control      Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

     Ongoing confrontation or unclear situation
Date16 October – 21 December 2015
(2 months and 5 days)
LocationAleppo Governorate, Syria
Status Syrian Army victory
Territorial
changes
  • Government forces capture 408 square kilometres (158 square miles) of territory,[1] including the area's main rebel strongholds of Al-Hader[2] and Khan Tuman,[3][4] cutting the Aleppo–Damascus highway[3][5] and leaving them in control of three-quarters of the southern Aleppo countryside[6][7][8]
  • Government forces regain control of the strategic Khanasser–Ithriya Highway from ISIL[9]
  • The rebels capture nine villages[10]
Belligerents

Syrian Arab Republic

 Iran

Iranian-backed Shi'ite Militias

Ba'ath Brigades[19]
Al-Quds Brigade[20]
Hezbollah

Russia Russian Air strikes:

SRCC

Supported by:
 Turkey
 Saudi Arabia
 Qatar
 United States

Al-Nusra Front
Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria
Katibat Tawhid wa Jihad (Uzbeks)[23]

Caucasus Emirate[24]		 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (since 23 Oct.)
Commanders and leaders

Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani[25][26][27]
(Supreme commander)
Maj. Gen. Saleh Abdullah
(Syrian forces commander)[28]
Col. Saeed Sayyah Taheri  †(IRGC commander)[29][30]
Mostafa Sadrzadeh  †
(Ammar Brigade leader)[17]
Hussein Ferdai  †
(senior commander of Liwa Fatemiyoun)[31]
Muhammad al-Sa’id[32]
(Liwa Al-Quds leader)

Russia Viktor Bondarev
(Chief of staff Russian Air Force)		 Hassan al-Haj Ali (Suqour al-Sham Brigade leader)
Moder Abdul Salam Hamdoun †(Thuwar al-Sham Brigades senior commander)[33]
Issa al-Turkmani
(Sultan Murad Brigade commander)[21]
Ismail Sanif †
(Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki Commander)[34]
Bashar Mqaddam †
(Kata’eb Thuwar al-Sham commander)[35]
Abdullah Al Ramla †
(Levant Front)[36]
Hassan Maakh †(Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki field commander)[37]
Uwais al-Daghestani †(Caucasus Emirate field commander)[24]
Abu Suleiman al-Masri †
(Al-Nusra Front senior commander)[38]
Faysal Shareef “Abu ‘Ameer” † (Al-Nusra Front field commander)[39]
Abu Muthana Al-Midani † (Al-Nusra Front field commander)[40]
Mohammad Hamdoush †(Morrocan Brigades Commander)[41]		 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Abu Nurlbagasi †[42]
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Muhammad ibn Khayrat †[42]
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Al-Okab †[42]
Units involved

Syrian Army:

Fatah Halab:
Free Syrian Army:

Islamic Front:

 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Military of ISIL
Strength

4,000+ Shi'ite militiamen and soldiers[43][46]

  • 2,000 Iranian-backed fighters[47]
  • 1,500 Iraqi paramilitary fighters[48]
 Unknown Unknown

The Aleppo offensive was an operation that started on 16 October when the Syrian Army launched a large-scale strategic offensive south of Aleppo. The main objective of the operation was to secure the Azzan Mountains, while also creating a larger buffer-zone around the Syrian Government’s only highway leading to the provincial capital.[49] The objective was also reportedly to set conditions for an upcoming offensive to isolate rebel forces in Aleppo City and to relieve the long-standing siege of a pro-government enclave in Aleppo Province.[50]

Gen. Qasem Soleimani was reported to have personally led the drive deep into the southern Aleppo countryside where many towns and villages were taken by government forces. Gen. Soleimani was in command of the Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division, Hezbollah, Harakat Al-Nujaba (Iraqi), Kataebat Hezbollah (Iraqi), Liwaa Abu Fadl Al-Abbas (Iraqi), and Firqa Fatayyemoun (Afghan/Iranian volunteers).[25][51] The Syrian government's progress deep into the southern Aleppo countryside has been attributed in large part to the Iranian leadership during the offensive.[52]

Preparations

The origins of the planning of the offensive in Aleppo could be traced back to Gen. Qasem Soleimani's visit to Moscow in July 2015. Gen. Soleimani was reportedly sent to Syria by the supreme leader of Iran himself, Ali Khamenei, in order to discuss military matters with his Russian couterparts and coordinate a joint escalation of forces in Syria.[53]

One month before the offensive south of Aleppo, the military launched another operation east of the city in an attempt to break the two-year siege of the Kuweyres military air base.

Major General Qasem Soleimani reportedly traveled from Latakia Governorate’s northeastern countryside to the Al-Safeera District of southern Aleppo in order to personally oversee the first phase of the large-scale offensive in the Azzan Mountains. Soleimani did not travel alone to Aleppo – he was escorted by a large convoy of armored vehicles that were largely made up of Iraqi Shi’i militiamen; these aforementioned fighters were tasked with carrying out the planned operations around the Aleppo Governorate’s countryside. Major General Suleimani traveled to Syria on the night of 12 October, to meet with the Iranian and Russian military advisors overseeing the large-scale operations around the Aleppo Governorate’s rural terrain. He was joined by six other senior military officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.[26]

The offensive

Syrian Government offensive

At 10 A.M. (Damascus Time) on the morning of 16 October, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) – in coordination with Hezbollah, the National Defense Forces (NDF), and Al-Ba’ath Battalions – launched their large-scale southern Aleppo offensive after almost one year of inactivity along this rural area in the Azzan Mountains. According to field reports from the provincial capital, the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah captured four sites from the Islamist rebels of Jabhat Al-Shamiyah (Levantine Front), Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, and the Free Syrian Army (FSA), killing a number of combatants in the process of their advance in the Aleppo Governorate’s southern countryside.

On 17 October, government forces backed by Shi'ite militia captured several villages, along with the Defense Battalion Base and the farms surrounding it.[19][49] By the next day, the military was in control of five villages, while it was unclear who controlled al-Shgaydalah after a rebel-counterattack to retake it from the Army.[54][55] The counterattack was carried out by Sham Revolutionary Brigades and Division 13, the latter a CIA-funded secular group, with videos showing a TOW missile attack destroying a bulldozer and later capturing a BMP-1.[21][56]

On 19 October, government forces captured three hills.[57] The commander of the Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki rebel group was killed in the fighting during the day.[58] Since the beginning of the offensive, the Army lost at least 11 armored vehicles to TOW AT missiles, according to the SOHR.[21] More weapons and ammunition were also supplied to the FSA including mortars and TOWs according to Issa Al-Turkmani, a Sultan Murad brigade spokesman.[21] Saudi Arabia alone reportedly delivered 500 AT missiles, but another rebel spokesman said that the quantity of TOWs was inadequate for the scale of the assault, pointing out that once the missiles were distributed among the groups each ended up with just a couple of tubes, stating that they needed dozens more per group.[21][59]

On 20 October, a rebel official stated the "losses are heavy on both sides and the regime’s advance is very slow". Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people reportedly fled the southern Aleppo countryside.[60] Between 21 and 22 October, government forces took control of seven more villages.[61][62][63] By this time, government forces reportedly lost at least 15 tanks, armored vehicles and bulldozers since the offensive begun.[50]

ISIL offensives and first rebel counterattack

On 23 October, ISIL launched an attack on the Khanaser-Ethria highway (the main government supply route between Hama and Aleppo), after detonating two VBIED's, and captured 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) of a road. Subsequently, government forces recaptured some parts of it.[64] The clashes over the next 24 hours left 28 ISIL fighters and 21 soldiers dead.[65] The attack may have been designed to coincide with a rebel offensive in the Aleppo Governate in order to increase its chances of success.[66] Elsewhere, 24 rebels, including the military leader of the Thwar al-Sham battalions and a commander of the Army of Mujahedeen, were killed in the southern Aleppo countryside,[65] while a rebel spokesman claimed that SAA losses of vehicles had reached 21.[67] At the end of the day, the rebels recaptured al-Hamra village,[68] while government forces reportedly recaptured most of the Khanaser-Ethria highway.[69]

On 24 October, Army sources reported that it had recaptured the western outskirts of Ithriyah, however the main supply route to Aleppo remained cut off.[20] That day, a second leader in the Nur al-Din Zanki Movement was killed, while a rebel and NDF commander were wounded.[70] The number of government fighters killed at the Khanaser-Ethria highway rose to at least 43.[71] At the end of the day, ISIL launched an attack on the eastern suburbs of Aleppo city and captured Tal Reeman and Al-Salihiyah, before government fighters could repel their further attacks with the help of Russian airplanes.[72]

On 25 October, rebels attacked, captured and eventually lost the strategically important cement plant area on the outskirts of Aleppo's Sheikh Saeed neighborhood after heavy clashes that led to the death of 14 government fighters and 10 rebels.[73] Meanwhile, government forces reportedly recaptured two checkpoints along the Khanaser-Ethria highway, before a sandstorm forcibly halted all military operations in Aleppo.[74] According to the SOHR, ISIL was still in control of parts of the highway, blocking the main supply route to Aleppo.[73]

On 26 October, ISIL re-attacked the Khanaser-Ethria highway and captured a checkpoint, killing eight government fighters. Meanwhile, rebels recaptured Tell Hamiriyyeh hill and the Khalsa farms in the southern Aleppo countryside.[75] The next day, ISIL also attacked the strategical town of As-Safira in southeastern Aleppo after detonating four VBIED's in the area. ISIL captured "key" military positions near the town and managed to enter Tel Aran.[76] ISIL also managed to enter the northern district of As-Safira, but were pushed out with the help of reinforcements.[77][78] Later that day, government forces regained their positions in the al-Safira area.[79]

On 28 October, Russian airstrikes bombed a rebel headquarters in the Aleppo countryside and killed at least 7 rebels.[79]

Renewed government advance

On 30 October, government forces recaptured the Tal Ithriya hill near the Khanaser–Ethria highway[80][81] and repelled ISIL at Sheikh Hilal and Al-Sa’an.[81] According to the same sources, the SAA also conducted an operation near the town of Khan Touman and captured farms located between the towns of Khan Touman and Qarassi in southern Aleppo.[82] Between 31 October and 2 November, the SAA and its allies captured six villages in the southern countryside of Aleppo, as the rebels withdrew to their stronghold at Al-Hadher. A rebel counter-attack was reportedly unsuccessful.[83][84][85][85][86]

On 2 November, ISIL captured the village of Ta’anah and its hill from Syrian troops,[87] while the rebels reportedly recaptured "wide parts" of Jabal al-Banjira.[88] The next day, government forces recaptured Al-Ta’anah.[89]

Wider strategic view, including the North–western Syria offensive.

On 4 November, government troops regained control over the Khanasser–Ithriya Highway after twelve days of clashes with ISIL, killing seven fighters, four through beheading.[90] While retreating towards al-Tabbaqa, a huge ISIS convoy was reportedly struck by Russian aircraft; the number of dead reported in the attack was more than 50.[9]

On 5 November, rebels recaptured two villages but despite this, the Army captured the town of Kafr Haddad.[91][92][93]

On 8 November, government forces captured three villages positioned directly south of Al-Hadhir, two of which the rebels retook the next day.[94][95] The SAA re-took one of them on 10 November,[96] as well as a further three.[97][98]

By the end of 11 November, the rebels recaptured several areas,[99][100] but the military continued its advances on 12 November with the capture of five more villages,[101][102][103][104] as well as the key rebel town of Al-Hader.[2][105]

On 13 November, government forces captured four villages and a hill, thus taking control of 341 km2 (132 sq mi) of territory.[5][106][107] By the end of the day, they broke through to the west, capturing two villages and the ICARDA base, adjacent to the Idlib–Aleppo highway, cutting the road.[108][109][110][111][112][113][114]

On 17 November, government forces captured Khalasah (known as Halash), after they advance from the nearby village Al-Hamraa.[115] On the next day, rebels recaptured the Banes farms.[116][117]

On 20 November, government troops captured Burj Al-Rumman and advanced to the village of Al-‘Umariyah, to the south-west of Al-Safira.[118] At this point, the military halted their offensive, in expectation of the arrival of new T-90 tanks, which would come by the end of the month.[119]

Second rebel counter-attack

On 21 November, rebels launched a counter-offensive at Tal al-Eis,[120] By 23 November, the rebels recaptured seven villages and two hills.[10] Al-Nusra seized a number of US-made Humvees from Shia militia near Tal Mamou.[121]

On 28 November, the rebels recaptured al-Maryoudah village.[122] However, by 29 November, the rebel assault on the southern perimeter of the village Al-Aziziyah failed from their positions at village Al-Makalah, and they withdrew to the south in order to evade air assaults from the Russian and Syrian Air Forces.[123][124]

Army captures Khan Touman

Between 3 and 7 December, government forces recaptured three villages and two hills.[125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132]

On 8 December, the rebels recaptured the village of Banes,[133][134] the same day that government sources announced a third phase of the Southern Aleppo Offensive.[135]

Between 12 and 13 December, government forces captured up to seven villages.[136][137][138][139][140]

On 20 December, the Army captured the strategic town of Khan Tuman, as well as two nearby villages, several hills and the Khan Touman Ammunition Depot along the Aleppo-Damascus Highway (M-5 Highway), cutting the primary rebel supply route from the provincial capital of the Idlib province toward the provincial capital of the Aleppo province.[3][4][141][142][143] The Al-Zarbeh Poultry Farm was also seized.[144] On the next day, government forces advanced further around Khan Tuman, taking control of two villages and two hills.[145][146][147][148][149]

Aftermath

On 11 January 2016, government forces launched an assault on the town of Al-Rashiddeen southwest of Aleppo city, while also reportedly capturing two villages in Aleppo's southern countryside.[150] On 28 January, they also seized the village of Blouzah.[151]

On 3 February, the rebels recaptured the village of Al-Khalidiyah, near Khan Touman, thus reopening their supply line via the Aleppo-Damascus Highway (M-5 Highway).[152] However, it was reported government troops recaptured Al-Khalidiyah three days later.[153]

Strategic analysis

Christopher Kozak of the Institute for the Study of War speculated that the assault was nothing more than a diversionary tactic intended to move rebel forces away from reopening the access to the Shi'ite towns of Nubl and al-Zahraa and cut the Aleppo–Turkey highway, their primary objective in his opinion.[50] The Syrian Army eventually launched an offensive in Northern Aleppo on 1 February 2016 and broke the three-year siege of the two towns, effectively cutting the Aleppo–Turkey supply route.[154]

Hezbollah's main incentive in participating in the offensive is believed to be similar to their agenda elsewhere, securing Shi'ite villages. Their ultimate objective is believed to be reaching the villages of Kafriya and Al-Fu'ah, thus lifting the siege imposed by Al-Nusra Front.[155]

With reportedly hundreds of square kilometers brought under government control within the span of the first month of the offensive, Al-Masdar concluded that the overall effectiveness of both the senior Iranian revolutionary guards on the ground as well as the close Russian air-support have been noted as part of the main array of factors leading to a revitalized advance by government forces.[156][157]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Syrian Army and Hezbollah Capture 408 Square Kilometers of Territory in Southern Aleppo". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Syria army takes key rebel town south of Aleppo: military source". The Daily Star. 12 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Leith Fadel. "Hezbollah, Syrian Army cutoff the Aleppo-Damascus Highway after seizing Khan Touman in southern Aleppo". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. 1 2 jack. "Regime forces and Hezbollah take control on Khan Toman strategic town". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  5. 1 2 Leith Fadel. "Syrian Army and Hezbollah Capture Several Villages in Southern Aleppo En Route to Cutting Off the M-5 Highway". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Paul Antonopoulos. "Syrian army cut Damascus-Aleppo highway". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Hala Jaber on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  8. 1 2 Leith Fadel. "Hezbollah, Syrian Army control 3/4 of southern Aleppo after completing phase 2 of the offensive". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Syrian army regains control of Aleppo supply route". The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon.
  10. 1 2 Leith Fadel. "Islamist Rebels Capture Several Sites in Southern Aleppo". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
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  12. ↑ News Desk. "Hundreds of Syrian volunteers backed by Iraq and Iran, take the lead for #Aleppo". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  13. 1 2 Leith Fadel. "Two Brigades of Kata'eb Hezbollah Arrive in Aleppo Amid the Presence of General Suleimani". Al-Masdar News.
  14. ↑ Leith Fadel. "More Iraqi Paramilitary Arrive in Aleppo Under Orders from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard". Al-Masdar News.
  15. ↑ Leith Fadel (2 November 2015). "Syrian Army and Hezbollah Make Huge Gains in Southern Aleppo: Military Operations Begin in Al-Hadher". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Leith Fadel (25 December 2015). "Hezbollah and Iraqi reinforcements arrive in southern Aleppo to begin the march to Idlib". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
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  20. 1 2 3 Leith Fadel. "Breaking: Syrian Army Reopens the Ithriyah-Salamiyah Road in East Hama After Defeating ISIS". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Syrian rebels say they receive more weapons for Aleppo battle". Reuters.
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  26. 1 2 Leith Fadel. "General Suleimani Oversees the Large-Scale Offensive in Southern Aleppo". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
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  32. ↑ "Syria Comment » Archives Overview of some pro-Assad Militias - Syria Comment". Syria Comment. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  33. ↑ "Airstrikes target the countryside of al- Hasakah, while a commander in a rebel battalion killed in Aleppo". Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  34. ↑ "Syrian troops advance toward air base besieged by IS - US News". US News & World Report. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  35. ↑ Master. "2 commanders killed in the ongoing clashes in the southern countryside of Alappo". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights.
  36. ↑ "F1ea1337". Twitter. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  37. ↑ Jack. "استشهاد القائد العسكري لحركة نور الدين الزنكي في المعارك المتواصلة بريف حلب الجنوبي". المرصد السورى لحقوق الإنسان. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  38. ↑ "Charles Lister". Twitter. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  39. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Syrian Army Kills the Lead Field Commander of Al-Nusra in Southern Aleppo Amid the Capture of Kafr Haddad". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  40. ↑ Leith Fadel (28 December 2015). "Top Al-Qaeda field commander killed in northern Aleppo by the Syrian Army". Al-Masdar News.
  41. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Syrian Army and Hezbollah Capture Talaylat in Southern Aleppo; Moroccan Field Commander Killed". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  42. 1 2 3 "3 ISIS field commanders in Aleppo province killed in Russian airstrikes – General Staff". RT English. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
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  46. ↑ "What the Aleppo offensive hides - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  47. ↑ This Is How Iran Just Raised the Stakes in Syria The National Interest
  48. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Massive northern Aleppo offensive set to begin soon as Iraqi volunteers pour into the province". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  49. 1 2 Leith Fadel. "Breaking: Syrian Army and Hezbollah Launch Their Southern Aleppo Offensive - 4 Sites Captured". Al-Masdar News.
  50. 1 2 3 "This map shows the intensifying battle for Syria's largest city before the war". Business Insider. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  51. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Reports of General Qassem Suleimani Being Severely Wounded in Southern Aleppo Prove False". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  52. ↑ "Can Syrian opposition defend both Hama and Aleppo at the same time? - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  53. ↑ "How Iranian general plotted out Syrian assault in Moscow". Reuters. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  54. ↑ Master. "The violent clashes continue in the southern countryside of Aleppo, and the regime forces advance in the area again". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights.
  55. ↑ "About 60 victims killed during the regime forces' advancement in the southern countryside of Aleppo". SOHR.
  56. ↑ Syria - FSA Division 13 aftermath of SAA bulldozer hit with BGM-71 TOW near Atbin, Hama 17/10. YouTube. 18 October 2015.
  57. ↑ Edward. "The regime forces advance again in the southern countryside of Aleppo and take control of 3 hills". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights.
  58. ↑ "Syrian troops advance toward air base besieged by IS - US News". US News & World Report.
  59. ↑ "CIA-supplied anti-tank missiles turned Syria into a 'proxy war by happenstance' - Business Insider". Business Insider. 13 October 2015.
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  61. ↑ Edward. "The regime forces advance again and take control of villages in the southern and eastern countryside of Aleppo". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  62. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Syrian Army and Hezbollah Capture Three Villages in Southern Aleppo". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  63. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Syrian Army and Hezbollah Make Massive Gains in Southern Aleppo: Rebel Defenses Collapse". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  64. ↑ jack. "Violent clashes killed no less than 40 militants in Aleppo countryside". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  65. 1 2 Master. "More than 90 IS militants, rebels and personnel in the regime forces killed in the violent clashes in the countryside of both Aleppo and Hama". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  66. ↑ "IUCA". Twitter. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  67. ↑ "American TOW Missiles Are A Game Changer Against Assad". Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  68. ↑ Edward. "Continuous clashes on the road between Khanasser–Atharayya and booby trapped vehicle in the vicinity of Kweris airbase". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  69. ↑ Leith Fadel. "ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra Threaten the Syrian Army's Main Supply Route to Aleppo". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  70. ↑ Edward. "Leader in Nur al-Din Zanki Movement die in Aleppo's battels and attempt to assassinate the commander of Ajnad al-Sham". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  71. ↑ Master. "More than 43 regime's soldiers and pro-regime militiamen killed in clashes on Khanser – Aathrayya road the last 48 hours". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  72. ↑ Leith Fadel. "ISIS Launches Wide-Scale Offensive in East Aleppo". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  73. 1 2 "At least 14 NDF militiamen killed in an explosion on al- Ramosah road, and the regime forces retake the cement plant". Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  74. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Syrian Army Recovers Several Points from ISIS Amid the Sandstorm Engulfing East Hama". Al-Masdar news. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  75. ↑ Edward. "The "Islamic State" starts new attack on Khanasser–Athrayya road, control a checkpoint and kill 8 regime members". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights.
  76. ↑ "ISIS advances in eastern Aleppo after clashes with Syrian forces". ARA News.
  77. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Massive ISIS Offensive in East Aleppo Stalls as the Syrian Army Completely Recovers Al-Safira". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  78. ↑ "Elijah J. Magnier". Twitter. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  79. 1 2 Edward. "Russian airstrikes target a headquarter and kill 2 fighters in northern countryside of Aleppo and the clashes continue". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  80. ↑ Master. "The regime forces advance in the eastern countryside of Hama, and warplanes hit al- Hara area in Daraa". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  81. 1 2 Leith Fadel. "Hezbollah and the Syrian Army Capture Tal Ithriyah: ISIS Controls 1km of Highway in East Hama". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  82. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Breaking: Syrian Army and Hezbollah Advance to Khan Touman in Southern Aleppo". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  83. ↑ jack. "Human losses in IS and regime forces during clashes in Aleppo". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights.
  84. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Breaking: Syrian Army and Hezbollah Capture Jamaymah and Maryameen in Southern Aleppo". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  85. 1 2 Leith Fadel. "Syrian Army and Hezbollah Continue to Roll in Southern Aleppo: 2 more Villages Captured". Al-Masdar News.
  86. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Syrian Army and Hezbollah Make Huge Gains in Southern Aleppo: Military Operations Begin in Al-Hadher". Al-Masdar News.
  87. ↑ Master. "Violent clashes take place in the countryside of Aleppo, while warplanes attack the village of Harbel". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights.
  88. ↑ Master. "The rebel and Islamist factions re-advance in al- Banjira in the southern countryside of Aleppo, and intense airstrikes carried out on the eastern countryside". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights.
  89. ↑ Leith Fadel. "ISIS Storms Tal 'Arn in East Aleppo While the Syrian Army Recaptures Al-Ta'anah in the North". Al-Masdar News.
  90. ↑ Edward. "The regime forces kill 7 ISIS members and behead 4 of them in Khanasser-Athrayya road". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights.
  91. ↑ "Syrian rebels seize town in west in blow to government". Reuters.
  92. ↑ Leith Fadel. "Breaking: Syrian Army and Hezbollah Capture Kafr Haddad in Northeastern Idlib". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  93. ↑ Edward. "Clashes continue in the southern countryside of Aleppo and airstrikes on the city and northern countryside". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
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