BEIRUT, LEBANON (8:15 A.M.) – The jihadist rebels, alongside their Turkish-backed allies, are preparing for a wide-scale counter-offensive in the Aleppo and Idlib countrysides after suffering heavy losses over the course of three weeks.
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According to a source from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), their forces have observed a large concentration of jihadist rebels from Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and the Turkish-backed National Liberation Front (NLF) around the southwestern countryside of the Aleppo Governorate.
The source said their intel believes the jihadists – with help from the Turkish military, who has recently deployed armored vehicles to Idlib and Aleppo – want to retake the dozens of towns and villages that they lost to the Syrian Army.
He would add that the Syrian Arab Army has orders to not engage the Turkish Armed Forces unless they carry out hostilities against their forces in Idlib and Aleppo.
Previously, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan alleged that his nation’s armed forces ‘neutralized’ dozens of Syrian soldiers after striking the SAA’s positions in Idlib; however, a source from the army denied any significant number of casualties.
Turkey has warned, however, that they will not sit idly while the Syrian Army continues to seize ground from the jihadist forces in Idlib and Aleppo, which has resulted in the envelopment of their troops at several observation posts.
At the same time, the Russian and Turkish military delegations are meeting daily to end the ongoing hostilities, but no agreement has been reached.
