The Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) shocked the Syrian Armed Forces on Thursday morning with a surprise assault on the western sector of Al-Hasakah City, where they would later infiltrate past the latter’s frontline defenses at the Al-Nashwa and Al-Liliyah Neighborhoods before they would impose full control over these areas.
As the clashes began to intensify near the Al-Hasakah Sports Stadium, reinforcements from the National Defrnse Forces (NDF) and Liwaa Suqour Al-Sahra (Desert Hawks Brigade) poured into the provincial capital to assist the Syrian Arab Army’s 123rd Regiment of the 3rd Armored Division and the 154th Special Forces Brigade in order to help push the swarming enemy combatants from the recently captured neighborhoods.
Following the arrival of reinforcements from the NDF and Liwaa Suqour Al-Sahra, the Syrian Armed Forces were able to counter the ISIS gains by retaking the Al-Liliyah Neighborhood and half of the Al-Nishwa Neighborhood before nightfall on Thursday.
Despite a successful counter-attack in western Al-Hasakah, the Syrian Armed Forces faced a large scale assault by the militants of ISIS at the Al-Ahdath Juvenile Detention Facility, resulting in a fierce firefight between the two opposing parties for over five hours before the attack was finally repelled.
This ISIS assault on the provincial capital of Al-Hasakah is the most serious and most successful of their previous offensives, as the terrorist group has achieved steady progress in the last 24 hours.
