The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) – backed by the Al-Ba’ath Brigades (Liwaa Al-Ba’ath), Hezbollah (Party of God), and the National Defense Forces (NDF) – continued their success north of Handarat, capturing the strategic Steel Plant and the neighboring factories in its vicinity from the Islamic Front (Jabhat Al-Islamiyya). This operation began in conjunction with the SAA’s offensive at the Handarat Camp, where the latter has now secured the gates in this area.
According to a Syrian military source, 23 militants from the Islamic Front were reportedly killed and another 14 were recorded as wounded after the fierce firefights at the Steel Plant. The source further added that the loyalists suffered 11 casualties during their operations in the vicinity of the Steel Plant and Handarat Factories.
Fierce firefights engulfed the Handarat Refugee Camp this morning, as the SAA attempted to force the Islamic Front militants to either retreat or surrender inside the camp. The Handarat Refugee Camp is under Syrian Army fire control; however, there is still a large presence of fighters from the Islamic Front inside the camp that are resisting. Unfortunately for the Islamic Front, they are at the mercy of the Syrian Army and its allies, who now control the gates to the camp.
Yesterday, the Islamic Front’s “Ahrar Al-Sham” (Liberators of the Levant”) militant group attempted to launch a counter-offensive near Al-Mallah Farms – they were forestalled during their attempted breach of the SAA’s frontline defenses. If the militants from Ahrar Al-Sham are unable to retake Al-Mallah, they will face a hopeless situation in northeast Aleppo, due to the SAA’s imminent arrival at the Al-Castillo Roundabout.
Be Civil
This is a Civilized Place for Public Discussion
Please treat this discussion with the same respect you would a public park. We, too, are a shared community resource — a place to share skills, knowledge and interests through ongoing conversation.
These are not hard and fast rules, merely guidelines to aid the human judgment of our community and keep this a clean and well-lighted place for civilized public discourse.
Make it better
Improve the Discussion
Help us make this a great place for discussion by always working to improve the discussion in some way, however small. If you are not sure your post adds to the conversation, think over what you want to say and try again later.
The topics discussed here matter to us, and we want you to act as if they matter to you, too. Be respectful of the topics and the people discussing them, even if you disagree with some of what is being said.
Now the hard part!
Be Agreeable, Even When You Disagree
You may wish to respond to something by disagreeing with it. That’s fine. But remember to criticize ideas, not people. Please avoid:
Instead, provide reasoned counter-arguments that improve the conversation.