Day four of the Jabhat Al-Nusra’s (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) offensive in western Aleppo did not yield much success for the militant group, as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) – in coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Liwaa Al-Quds (Jerusalem Brigade) – thwarted all of the Al-Qaeda contingent’s infiltration attempts into the Al-Rashideen District on Thursday.
The Jabhat Al-Nusra assault on day three began during the wee hours on Thursday, when a large contingent of militants conducted an attack on the Syrian Armed Forces’ defensive positions at the eastern sector of the Al-Rashideen District; this attack was repelled after almost six hours of non-stop fighting that resulted in the death of over 20 armed combatants from Jabhat Al-Nusra and Jaysh Al-Mujahiddeen.
In addition to their assault on the Al-Rashideen District, the militants from Jabhat Al-Nusra – in coordination with Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and Jaysh Al-Mujahiddeen – launched another assault on the Syrian Arab Army’s positions at the Great Prophet Mosque and the dilapidated Air Force Intelligence Building in the Al-Zahra Association Quarter; however, this attack failed once again, as the Syrian Armed Forces drove back the enemy combatants before nightfall on Thursday.
According to a military source in the Aleppo Governorate, the Syrian Armed Forces have secured almost every point in the New Aleppo District; however, they still face heavy resistance at the Al-Rashideen District, where the militants from Jabhat Al-Nusra and Jaysh Al-Mujahiddeen have entrenched themselves in a number of buildings at the western sector.
The source further added that the number of gas canisters and rockets fired into the city of Aleppo has dissipated since Monday, when they fired over 250 rockets and mortar shells into the provincial capital’s northern districts.
