The Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division and Hezbollah launched a surprise offensive inside the Aleppo Governorate’s northern countryside on Monday morning, striking two different axes around the strategic village of Bashkoy in order to strengthen their positions near Handarat.
Not long after beginning their northern Aleppo operations, the Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division – alongside Hezbollah, Liwaa Al-Badr (Iraqi paramilitary), the National Defense Forces (NDF), Harakat Al-Nujaba (Iraqi paramilitary), and Kata’eb Hezbollah – established full control over the village of Duwayr Al-Zeitoun after a violent battle with the Islamist rebels of Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group), Jaysh Al-Mujahiddeen, Jabhat Al-Shamiyah, and the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
In addition to capturing Duway Al-Zeitoun, the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies captured the Afghan farm in northeastern Bashkoy, killing a dozen enemy combatants and destroying two of their armored vehicles.
Following the capture of Duwayr Al-Zeitoun and the Afghan Farm, the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies shifted their attention to the northern, where they launched a powerful assault on the village of Tal Jbibin.
The Syrian Armed Forces and their allies would officially seize the village of Tal Jibbin two hours later, resulting in a disorganized retreat for the Islamist rebels to the nearby towns of Tal Hardatineen (west) and Ahras (north).
If the Islamist rebels are unable to halt the government forces advance in northern Aleppo, the latter could expand west towards the besieged village of Al-Zahra’a and Nubl, which could ultimately end in the main Islamist supply route from Turkey being cutoff.
