On February 7, the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Free Syrian Army have captured Hawiz Hill and re-entered the village of Shaykh Khurus. Meanwhile, the media wing of the YPG claimed that YPG forces had destroyed two more TAF battle tanks (one on February and and another one on February 7).
On February 8, clashes continued between Turkish forces and the YPG in the areas of Shaykh Khurus, Ali Baki, Khalil Kulku nd the Rajo district.
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Forget Afrin, wait until SF writes about https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-isis-pocket-rural-hama-verge-vanquished-elite-syrian-forces-clear-final-areas/
I don’t understand why the SAA stopped its Idlib offensive to deal with the weak ISIS pocket. The offensive had momentum. Did the Russians order a halt?
It makes good sense for the SAA to consolidate and shorten their front lines.
HTS area is still under air and arty bombardment.
Perhaps you are right. Logistics dictate strategy. It will be interesting to see if the SAA offensive resumes and if it can regain momentum
If in the interlude Turkey floods the region with TSK forces, it will be difficult for SAA to resume an advance, not even speaking about bombing where TSK forces are dug in. The end result could be either no resumption at all or a direct conflict between Turkey and SAA.
ı think there is a demarcation line which had already been agreed upon by russia syria and turkey and iran in idlib province. I an not sure where this line is, but it s probably somewhere east of hama-aleppo highway.
ISIS pocket is more important for having free advance later. This pocket must be free fast, brave, and without mercy, none deal at all with terrorists.
I don’t support Turkey but this battle plan i so stupid: isn’t more smart to attack from south and est (Tal Rifaat) e to (first of all) block the supplies to the pocket?
I asked me the same question! for me it would also make more sense to cut the supply rouds and wait.
There hasn’t been any tactical or operational finesse seen since the TAF began land operations in Syria. The thing is, the kind of Turks who really believe in this mission tend to be the kind who also believe all their own propaganda, and so, who needs to be clever when you have god on your side? Meanwhile, the smarter ones aren’t that enthusiastic, and so, do just the minimum required of them. The thing that made the TAF a more skillful force than the stubborn but inefficient, clumsy Ottoman Empire forces that proceeded them was a secular, objective German doctrine. Erdogan and company babble about jihad. The entire ideology they espouse erodes the underlying doctrines the TAF was built with, and thus, you get a mix of some fanatic idiots who can’t be bothered to think, and bunch of unenthusiastic troops who don’t really give a damn.
What I find interesting is that the above mentioned areas where fighting is reported, have all been reported by SF as taken by Turks at least once or even twice. That means either the first reports were incorrect or the areas have (unreportedly and at least once or even maybe twice) been retaken by SDF. or it is SDF doing the attacking, making Turkish positions precarious.