The militants from the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” were finally successful in breaching National Defense Forces (NDF) frontline defenses at the Al-Mastoumah Camp after they recaptured the Primary School and the strategic Al-Mastoumah Hill, resulting in the complete withdrawal of the Syrian Armed Forces from this town located south of the provincial capital.
According to a military source in Ariha, the Syrian Armed Forces withdrew all the soldiers from the Al-Mastoumah Camp after Jabhat Al-Nusra and Jund Al-Aqsa militants stormed the area for the second straight day, resulting in the disintegration of their defenses around this town in the Idlib Governorate.
With the Syrian Armed Forces withdrawal from the Al-Mastoumah Camp, the Syrian Government stronghold of Ariha becomes endangered because of the new threat posed from the northern axis that was once part of the supply route; this allows for the militants from Harakat Al-Sham to open a new front at this city and furthers the distance from the besieged villages of Kafraya and Al-Fou’aa located north of Idlib City.
The militants from Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham did not waste much time attacking the Syrian Armed Forces’ defenses on the outskirts of Ariha, as they countered the latter’s infiltration into the village of Muqablah by pushing them to the fringes of this area.
