Syrian War Report – March 30, 2017: Syrian Army Regaining Ground In Northern Hama

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Voiceover by Harold Hoover

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the 5th Legion, and the Tiger Forces successfully counter-attacked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Izzah, and Abnaa al-Sham in northern Hama, recapturing the Samsam hill, the nearby points north of Qumhana, and the al-Sheha hill south of Arzah. If government forces are able to retake Khattab from HTS-led forces, this will mean that they retake the initiative in the area.

Pro-government sources reported that the militants had suffered major casualties in the recent clashes but didn’t provide numbers. Meanwhile, about 20 Syrian soldiers were reportedly killed by HTS-led forces in the area of Majdal.

On March 29th, the SAA’s Tiger Forces entered the important town of Deir Hafer in the province of Aleppo. ISIS terrorists withdrew from Deir Hafer earlier this month, but the Syrian army and the National Defense Forces were not able to enter the town because of a high number of IEDs in the area.

Since then, government forces have been waiting for engineer units (most likely Russian) which will be able to demine the town.

The SAA and its local allies also continued developing an advance southeast of Deir Hafer, aiming for the ISIS-held Jirah Military Airbase.

As soon as the military airbase is back under SAA control, government forces will likely advance further in the Maskaneh Plain east of the Jabbul Lake. The important ISIS-held town of Masakah will be the target of this advance.

In the province of Homs, government forces advanced against ISIS in the countryside of Palmyra. Government troops recaptured the Antar Mount and the Afghans hill from ISIS.

If the SAA continues its advance in the direction of the Uqayrabat crossroad, this will mean that government forces are going to advance along the road heading to Palmyra.

Another option is to shift the direction of the anti-ISIS advance to Arak. However, large-scale operations in the area are unlikely due to the complicated situation in northern Hama.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) further tightened the siege over the ISIS-controlled town of Tabqa after capturing the nearby areas, including the Tabqa-Raqqah road and de-facto encircled the town.

The operation in Tabqa and at the Tabqa dam will take some additional time for the SDF and its US backers, but the Kurdish leadership already has a view toward the fate of Raqqah when the city is liberated from ISIS.

According to a statement by co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), Saleh Muslim, the Kurds are going to add Arab-dominated regions, which have been seized by Kurdish forces, to their self-proclaimed autonomous region in northern Syria.

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Valery Grigoryev

“the Kurds are going to add Arab-dominated regions, which have been seized by Kurdish forces, to their self-proclaimed autonomous region in northern Syria.”

Pandora’s box opening…

Jonathan Cohen

They’ll bring abortion rights to Raqqa! Hooray! and if they have a majority problem they can always import a kurd majority from Turkey.

Solomon Krupacek

and arabs sarin, soman, tabun and vx against kurdish animals.

Jonathan Cohen

And Trump will nuke if they start.

Solomon Krupacek

trump will have problem to stay president for 4 years :)) and be sure, will do nothing

Jonathan Cohen

It doesn’t take 4 years to nuke a wahhabist horde.

Solomon Krupacek

read also the second half of my sentence

Gabriel Hollows

Treacherous Kurds at it again! Just doing their jobs securing the Syrian oil fields as instructed by their Rothschild masters.

Jonathan Cohen

I’m so happy Rothchilds and Trump have chosen to back prochoice Kurds, who have more than deserved backing for so long.

Solomon Krupacek

will be fatwa on communistic kurds. mujaheddins from whole word will fight against this atavism.

Jonathan Cohen

And trump will nuke them to ash

Valery Grigoryev

Mujaheddins are the atavism themselves.

Solomon Krupacek

two dark forces.

Valery Grigoryev

agree.

Thegr8rambino

good about recapturing more areas, sad about the 20 lost SAA soldiers :( but i think the US will eventually betray the kurds

Jonathan Cohen

Most American’s would cheer if Russia bombed Saudi Arabia like Trump promised. Fewer, but still many Americans would cheer Iran for doing so.

jim crowland

Is Southfront going to comment on the new mass murder of Assad on his own population? We in the Wet believe in justice and this site only defends the political objectives of Russia. If Russia were democratic I would support it because we in the Christian West go for values.