For the last 4 days, fierce clashes have engulfed northeast Aleppo, as contingents from the Islamic Front (Jabhat Al-Islamiyyah) and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) exchange blows with one another in an attempt to reclaim lost territory. This has become especially true in the Bani Zayd Quarter, where militants from ‘Ahrar Al-Sham and soldiers from the SAA continue to combat one another without either side making any significant gains.
On Sunday, the SAA – in cooperation with the Al-Ba’ath Brigades (Liwaa Al-Ba’ath) – attempted to infiltrate ‘Ahrar Al-Sham’s defenses at the Bani Zayd School District building; however, the attack was repelled after the loyalist forces were unable to breach the rebel frontlines due to significant gunfire and artillery shells that struck their pressing forces.
At the village of Sayfaat, militants from the Islamic Front attacked a National Defense Forces (NDF) checkpoint near the Salt Farms (Mazra’a Al-Malaah) in northeast Aleppo. The attack was repelled when the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF) assisted the embattled NDF fighters with their persistent bombardment of rebel positions. As a result, the Islamic Front militants were forced to withdraw from the checkpoint’s vicinity.
The Al-Qaeda linked “Al-Nusra Front” (Jabhat Al-Nusra) launched another attack on the Al-Zahra Associations Quarter in west Aleppo, targeting the Air Force Intelligence building and the Al-Rassoul Al-Adham Mosque. The militants have taken-up their positions on the outskirts of the Al-Zahra Quarter and they are in control of one of the entrances into this area.
Fierce clashes were also reported the predominately Shi’I villages of Al-Zahra and Nubl, where the Al-Nusra Front and Jaysh Al-Mujahiddeen attacked Hezbollah (Party of God) and NDF positions at the factories in southeastern Nubl. The militant assault on Nubl from the southeastern axis was repelled before nightfall; as the latter was forced withdraw after sustaining heavy casualties, including their Chechen leader, “Abu Musa’ab Al-Sheeshaani”.
Other areas that experienced intense firefights were Al-Manaasher and Al-Hajjar located near the besieged village of Al-Bureijj, Handarat Camp, Hanano District, Al-‘Amariyya, Sheikh Sa’eed, and Hayyan.
