The Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” has collapsed at the Ras Al-Marra front in the Qalamoun Mountains after a series of powerful airstrikes from the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF) that was followed by a fierce assault from the Syrian Arab Army’s 1st Armored Division and Hezbollah on Friday evening.
Thursday morning, the SAA’s 1st Armored Division and Hezbollah captured the strategic border-crossing from Ras Al-Marra (Syria) into the Jabhat Al-Nusra stronghold of Jaroud ‘Arsal (Lebanon); this resulted in the Lebanese Resistance and the Syrian Armed Forces encircling the Ras Al-Marra barrens located near the town of Faleeta to the north.
In addition to their capture of the Ras Al-Marra barrens, Hezbollah – in coordination with the SAA’s 1st Armored Division and the National Defense Forces (NDF) – took complete control of Jabal Al-‘Arteez in the western part of the Qalamoun Mountains, killing 19 enemy combatants from Jabhat Al-Nusra and seizing a large cache of assault rifles and ammunition.
Jabhat Al-Nusra’s forces are quickly falling apart at the Qalamoun front; if they are unable to reopen their strategic supply route from Jaroud ‘Arsal to Ras Al-Marra, they will likely face complete defeat or surrender to the Lebanese Resistance and the Syrian Armed Forces.