On Wednesday, the Free Syrian Army along with other military factions started a new offensive on the northwestern Hama front after advancing and taking control of the town of Kafr Nabudah, following a counter-attack in which Assad’s forces suffered heavy losses.
The National Front for Liberation said that their artillery and rockets regiment used BM-21 rockets and heavy artillery rounds to strike positions and barracks of Assad’s forces and the Russia-backed Fifth Corps militias who were stationed in the northern and western Hama countryside.
The National Front added that it had destroyed two of Assad’s forces anti-tank launchers east of Tel Huwash in the northwestern Hama countryside with anti-armor rockets, while Assad’s forces destroyed two tanks with anti-armor rockets on the Tel Huwash front.
Rebel groups were able to capture Colonel Abdel Kareem Youssef Souleiman during the fighting in Kafr Nabudah on Tuesday-Wednesday night.
In addition, warplanes carried out airstrikes on villages in the Idleb countryside, with the town of Saraqeb subjected to three airstrikes, which killed four civilians and wounded more than 20 others.
On Tuesday morning, a number of rebel groups began a counterattack against Assad’s forces. At the beginning they were able to take a number of areas, including Tel Huwash and al-Humairat in the northern Hama countryside, and to break Assad forces’ defensive line in Kafr Nabudah.
All rebel groups present in the northern Hama countryside took part in the fighting, most prominently the National Front for Liberation, Jaish al-Izza, as well as fighters from the National Army, who arrived in convoys two days earlier to the fronts in the Hama countryside coming from the northern Aleppo countryside.
Signs of Turkish-Russian Division
The attack carried out by the rebel groups is considered to be a sign of Turkish-Russian divisions regarding Idleb province and its fate.
The attack came after intensive communications between the Russians and Turks to reach a truce in Idleb that was rejected by the National Front for Liberation, which continued to strike Assad forces’ positions in the western Hama and northern Lattakia countrysides.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
