On Tuesday morning, the Al-Qaeda linked “Al-Nusra Front” (Jabhat Al-Nusra) – backed by Jaysh Al-Mujahideen – launched an offensive at the village of Tal Salmo that was geared at opening a new front south of the besieged Abu Dhuhour Military Airbase; this base is located in the eastern part of the Idlib Governorate.
Al-Nusra Front and Jaysh Al-Mujahideen militants attacked 2 points controlled by the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) 11th Tank Division and the National Defense Forces (NDF) at Tal Salmo – the assault on the 2 axes was foiled by the loyalist forces after almost 2 days of non-stop fighting with the militant groups that resulted in the death of a number of enemy combatants.
In the Hama Governorate, the SAA – in cooperation with the NDF and Al-Ba’ath Brigades (Liwaa Al-Ba’ath) – conducted a successful raid on a weapons depot belonging to the Al-Nusra Front that resulted in the confiscation of hundreds of assault rifles, ammunition, RPGs, grenades, and two 23mm anti-aircraft machine guns just south of the village of Al-Ramleh.
Also in the Hama Governorate, fierce clashes were reported at the village of Al-Raseef, when an NDF contingent was ambushed by members of the Al-Nusra Front. According to a military source, 4 NDF fighters were reportedly killed and another 5 were wounded as a result of the ambush. The NDF were able to fend-off the assault and force the Al-Nusra Front to withdraw west after the firefight.
