The Syrian Arab Army’s 45th Regiment of the 1st Armored Division – in coordination with the Imam Al-Baqeer Brigades of the National Defense Forces (NDF) and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) – launched a powerful assault on the Islamist rebel defenses inside the Al-Ghaab Plains on Monday morning, striking the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” and their allies from Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) at a number of points at the towns of Al-Mansoura and Al-Sirmaniyah.
Following a morning of intense firefights at the Khirbat Al-Naqous-Al-Mansoura axis, the Syrian Armed Forces finally broke-through Jabhat Al-Nusra’s defenses and entered the town of al-Mansoura, killing over 20 enemy combatants, while destroying three armored vehicles that were mounted with a 23mm anti-aircraft machine gun.
Despite claims of its capture on Monday afternoon, the town of Al-Mansoura was not captured by the Syrian Armed Forces; however, the latter has positioned themselves at the town’s western entrance in preparation for another assault the following day, which will surely increase the bloodshed encompassing this rural area of the Hama Governorate’s northwestern countryside.
If the Syrian Armed Forces are able to recapture Al-Mansoura, they will be in position to attack the imperative town of Al-Ziyarah, which is located in the heart of the Al-Ghaab Plains.
Meanwhile, the Russian Air Force’s Hind Helicopters have punished the Islamist rebels with repeated airstrikes, propelling the Syrian Armed Forces to push further north towards the Idlib Governorate’s border with Hama.
