The media spokesman of the Media Foundation in Hama, Anas al-Hamwi, confirmed a military source in the regime forces as saying that Colonel Suhail Hassan has been moved from Hama Military Airport, to the T4 Military Airport in the northern countryside of Homs, which has witnessed violent attacks by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces for several days.
Hamwi said Colonel Hassan had suddenly left Hama Military Airport to join the special operations room for regime forces in the T4 Military Airport.
Hamwi, during an interview with All4Syria, quoted the military source as saying he had seen Colonel Hassan inside T4 Airport "yesterday afternoon, giving military orders to an aircraft to strike military targets close to the airport", and that he was in "an awkward position".
The source added that regime forces moved some foreign fighters from the Morek front in the western countryside of Hama to the eastern countryside of Homs, and that more than 300 of those fighters are heading to T4 airport.
The source revealed that Colonel Hassan ordered many of the fighters at Morek front to go to Hama Military Airport, in order to transfer them to T4 Airport in Homs. Hassan also ordered his forces in the eastern and western countryside of Hama to hold their positions in the areas they seized until he returns to Hama, warning them of the consequences of withdrawal which may expose them to possible attack from the opposition.
Regarding the reasons behind these sudden and rapid changes among regime's forces, Hamwi confirmed that the regime's army lacks fuel after ISIS seized the Shaaer oil field and several other fields in the countryside of Homs. They brought Hassan to T4 Airport in an effort to regain control of the Jahar gas and oil fields, and to secure the airport and its surroundings in battles to come, and before ISIS advances in the region.
Observers following developments in the central region have noted the military bankruptcy of Bashar al-Assad as the reason for moving Colonel Hassan from the front of Hama to Homs. Others said that there is no problem for Assad and his senior officers in sacrificing Colonel Hassan who received wide acclaim, sparking jealousy among his peers and top ranking officers.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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