Moments ago, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), Hezbollah and several Iraqi paramilitaries imposed full control over the village of Muarrasat al-Khan village in the countryside of northern Aleppo. While clashes are ongoing on the outskirts of the village, government troops have effectively broken an Islamist rebel siege on Nubl and al-Zahraa which had previously been upheld since the summer of 2012. Thus, more than 35.000 predominately Shiite civilians once again have land access to food from Aleppo city.
The offensive was aided by hundreds of Russian airstrikes which litterally blew regional Islamist defences to smithereens. Furthermore, dozens of highly motivated Shiite pro-government fighters jointly stormed Muarrasat al-Khan from both flanks of the village while government tanks and artillery provided covering fire. Due to the loss of Muarrat al-Khan, Islamist rebels inside Aleppo city have lost their most important supply line from Turkey that runs through Azaz further north.
Today’s events happen less than 3 months since government troops also broke the ISIS-imposed siege on Kuweiris Airbase in eastern Aleppo. Since October of 2015, the government has greatly expanded its territory on southern, eastern and northern countryside of Aleppo. However, the city of Aleppo – which is often reffered to as a ghost sniper city – has settled for a frontline stalemate over the past year.
Be Civil
This is a Civilized Place for Public Discussion
Please treat this discussion with the same respect you would a public park. We, too, are a shared community resource — a place to share skills, knowledge and interests through ongoing conversation.
These are not hard and fast rules, merely guidelines to aid the human judgment of our community and keep this a clean and well-lighted place for civilized public discourse.
Make it better
Improve the Discussion
Help us make this a great place for discussion by always working to improve the discussion in some way, however small. If you are not sure your post adds to the conversation, think over what you want to say and try again later.
The topics discussed here matter to us, and we want you to act as if they matter to you, too. Be respectful of the topics and the people discussing them, even if you disagree with some of what is being said.
Now the hard part!
Be Agreeable, Even When You Disagree
You may wish to respond to something by disagreeing with it. That’s fine. But remember to criticize ideas, not people. Please avoid:
Instead, provide reasoned counter-arguments that improve the conversation.