The conglomerate of Islamist forces that comprise of Jaysh Al-Fatah have surrounded the predominately Shi’i villages of Al-Fou’aa and Kafraya after taking control of northern Idlib City, cutting off the National Defense Forces (NDF) from their primary supply route.
This is not the first time that Islamist groups have targeted Al-Fou’aa and Kafraya, two weeks before their offensive at Idlib City, Harakat ‘Ahrar Al-Sham led an attack on the three axes leading to these villages – they were later repelled 72 hours later.
South of Idlib City, the Syrian Al-Qaeda affiliate “Jabhat Al-Nusra” (member of Jaysh Al-Fatah) exchanged a barrage of mortar shells and rockets with the NDF at Tal Al-Mintaar and Al-Mastouma Camp; however, the Islamist forces were unable to gain any ground, despite claims by their social media activists.
Meanwhile, at Jisr Al-Shughour, Jabhat Al-Nusra attempted to capture a Syrian Arab Army (SAA) checkpoint located north of the city, but they were forestalled before they could infiltrate past the latter’s defenses.
Sources close to Al-Masdar News have revealed the name of the offensive to retake the provincial capital of Idlib: the Syrian Arab Army’s Central Command has dubbed this imminent offensive as “Operation Hellfire” – no date has been set for the counter-attack, as the Islamist forces are still on the offensive.
