FILE IMAGE © Sputnik/ Mikhail Voskresenskiy
Government forces, led by the 5th Assault Corps, have resumed operations in the countryside of Palmyra. Government fighters are now advancing on ISIS positions at the Shumriyah Mountains. Some pro-government sources even argue that the area has been already captured by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
Earlier this week, reports appeared that the Syrian military was deploying a large number of reinforcements to the area of Palmyra prior to a widely expected advance in the direction of Deir Ezzor. However, no photos or videos confirming this were available online.
If the Shumriyah Mountains were captured, this could mean that the reported reinforcements had really arrived the area.
The intensification of government military operations in the Palmyra countryside could be linked up with an increased activity of US-backed militants along the Syrian-Iraqi border. Strategically, both sides are seeking to establish control over the border and to reach the city of Deir Ezzor.
Meanwhile, the situation became relatively halt in northern Hama. This week, government forces have not made major attempts to reach the important town of Lataminah controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
This is another factor that could indicate that government forces are now focusing on another front.
A map showing the military situation in the Palmyra countryside can be found here.
I reckon with the American backed headchoppers advancing along the border the SAA deemed it more prudent to switch troops to a now more important front sector. While the Hama sailiant has not yet been eliminated, Al Nusra and its moderate headchoppers have been pushed back significantly and some more defensive depth has been gained. I still wouldn’t be surprised to see yet another Al Nusra offensive aimed at Hama in a few months time, at a very inopportune moment.
There’s no race to Deir Azzor. The US backed outfits have taken positions on the highway south of the T3 airbase to prevent ISIS from using it to send northern units south. Now Daesh has to drive around Deir Azzor where the SAA has been expanding their defensive perimeters with plans to cut off those bypass routes to Mayadin. Daesh and the SAA have been battling over the al-Tallia Crossroads for well over a month. I’m starting to suspect that those are ISIS units that withdrew from Palmyra to the T3 airbase then found all the roads and the highway leading from there had been rendered impassable by bombing, so now are trapped with only one way out.
The SAA reducing the Hama salient probably reached their objectives where they planned to stop for rest, resupply and reinforcements. The current operations west of Palmyra appear to be moving rapidly with little resistance so those units may be able to clear Daesh out from that entire region all the way up to Ithriya then continue north/northwest into Southern Aleppo and eastern Idlib provinces to secure more roads to Aleppo.
I wondered about the lull in Hama, I was hoping that the Syrians would pull off a spectacular somewhere else around the pocket. I suppose it depends on whether the US head-chopping, heart-eating rapers have been trying to lure the Syrians into a relief attempt on Deir Ezzor to overextend them….
I think the SAA is waiting for the eastern Ghouta pocket to erupt in fighting. And they suspended the Hama offensive because of the Astana talks.