One week after launching their large-scale offensive in the provincial capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the conglomerate of Islamist factions that form “Ansar Al-Shari’ah” have been unsuccessful in achieving their primary endeavor to capture the western districts of Aleppo, making this the fourth failed assault on the Syrian Government controlled part of the city.
On Sunday morning, the two largest factions in Ansar Al-Shari’ah – Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) and Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham – attacked the Syrian Armed Forces at the Great Prophet Mosque in the Al-Zahra Association Quarter for the fifth time this week, resulting in a series of fierce clashes between the opposing parties before the Islamist fighters withdrew to the western flank in order to evade the Syrian Arab Air Force’s aerial bombardment.
Following their failed assault 0n the Great Prophet Mosque, the militants from Ansar Al-Shari’ah attempted to breach the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) frontline defenses at the eastern corridor of the Scientific Research Building; however, the assault was repelled once again, as the entrenched soldiers inside the facility withstood the relentless attacks from the Islamist factions and pushed them back to the western corridor.
In addition to the fighting at Al-Zahra and the New Aleppo District, the militants from Ansar Al-Shari’ah clashed with the Syrian Armed Forces at the Al-Khalidiyah-Al-Layramoun axis, Nile Street, and Al-Rusafa Street inside the Al-Ashrafiyah Quarter; however, the Islamist combatants did not progress at any of these fronts.
The Islamist offensive in the western sector of Aleppo City has been rather unsuccessful lately, as the Syrian Armed Forces have been unwilling to concede any territory to Ansar Al-Shari’ah.
